ice shelf

noun

: shelf ice

In 2002, a Rhode Island-size section of an ice shelf crumbled into the sea.

—Joe McGowan

Examples of ice shelf in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

In fact, many of these events are a natural part of an ice shelf's life cycle rather than the result of climate change or human activity. — Emma Gometz, Scientific American, 2 Oct. 2026

The $125 million production stars a nearly unrecognizable Cruise playing an oblivious oil tycoon whose drilling in Greenland dislodges an ice shelf from a glacier that’s going to cause a global disaster. — James Hibberd, HollywoodReporter, 30 Sep. 2026

That warming shapes how ice shelves around the continent’s margins melt, and how quickly the glaciers behind them slide over the bedrock. — Robert Kopp, The Conversation, 30 Sep. 2026

Nuking the ice shelf is the popular choice of the military brass. — David Fear, Rolling Stone, 29 Sep. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1869, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for ice shelf

• ourself
• bookshelf
• herself
• himself
• hisself
• itself
• meself
• myself
• nonself
• oneself
• thyself
• yourself