ice cap

noun

|Updated on: 13 Aug 2018

Definition of ice cap

1 : an ice bag shaped to the head

2 : a cover of perennial ice and snow; specifically : a glacier forming on an extensive area of relatively level land and flowing outward from its center

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Recent Examples of ice cap from the Web

But because the southern winter is far more extreme than the northern winter, the southern polar ice caps grow more than twice as far as their northern counterparts.

— shannon hall, New York Times, "Never Mind the Summer Heat: Earth Is at Its Greatest Distance From the Sun," 5 July 2018
During springtime, frozen carbon dioxide trapped below the ice cap turns from a solid state into a gas, forming features that from above look like dark spiders.

— shannon stirone, WIRED, "Space Photos of the Week: Mars Has Spiders in the Springtime," 14 July 2018
The nearly five-hour hearing covered topics including the history of climate change research, carbon dioxide’s role as a greenhouse gas, melting ice caps, rising sea levels and extreme weather.

— sudhin thanawala, The Seattle Times, "US judge throws out climate change lawsuits against big oil," 26 June 2018
Some of that lead settled on Greenland’s ice cap and mixed in with ever-accumulating layers of ice.

— katie langin, Science | AAAS, "Top stories: HPV vaccine debate, 2000-year-old pollution, and a lawmaker’s views on sea level rise," 18 May 2018
Subsequent research published in Nature magazine on the history of Greenland’s ice cap demonstrated this to be impossible.

— pat michaels and, WSJ, "Thirty Years On, How Well Do Global Warming Predictions Stand Up?," 21 June 2018
As Katie Langin at Science reports, researchers recently found some insight locked in Greenland’s ice cap.

— jason daley, Smithsonian, "Greenland’s Ice Provides a Year-By-Year Account of the Roman Empire’s Economy," 16 May 2018
Matt: Al wrote those lyrics long before there were any real fears about the melting polar ice caps.

— ron hart, Billboard, "Cult Metal Favorites Sleep Talk Reunion Album, Third Man Records & Changing Attitudes Toward Marijuana," 8 June 2018
Winds from Europe carried to Greenland enough lead pollution from this process for it to be preserved in the layers of snow that, compacted, form the island’s ice cap.

— The Economist, "Arctic ice brings an understanding of ancient Europe’s economy," 19 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'ice cap.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

First Known Use of ice cap

1816

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

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ICE CAP Defined for English Language Learners

ice cap

noun

Definition of ice cap for English Language Learners

: a very large and thick sheet of ice that covers the North Pole, the South Pole, or another region

ICE CAP Defined for Kids

ice cap

noun

Definition of ice cap for Students

: a large more or less level glacier flowing outward in all directions from its center

Learn More about ice cap

See words that rhyme with ice cap Spanish Central: Translation of ice cap Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about ice cap

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ice cap

Definition of ice cap

Recent Examples of ice cap from the Web

First Known Use of ice cap

ICE CAP Defined for English Language Learners

ice cap

Definition of ice cap for English Language Learners

ICE CAP Defined for Kids

ice cap

Definition of ice cap for Students

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ICE CAP Defined for English Language Learners

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ice cap

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