icebreaker

noun

ice·​break·​er ˈīs-ˌbrā-kər 

1

: a ship equipped (as with a reinforced bow) to make and maintain a channel through ice

2

: something that is done or said to get through the first difficulties in starting a conversation or discussion

Roughly half of all Americans are invested in the market these days, and stock holdings have replaced politics, weather and sports as the go-to conversational icebreaker.

—Adam Bryant

… she also pays particular attention to icebreakers that relax guests and get them rubbing elbows, such as a cruise up the Colorado River, where guests nibble on hors d'oeuvres and sip Fall Creek wines.

—Steve Heimoff

see also break the ice

Examples of icebreaker in a Sentence

using an old joke as a conversational icebreaker

Recent Examples on the Web

At the far end of the spectrum is Ponant’s Le Commandant Charcot, the world’s first hybrid-electric polar icebreaker and the only passenger vessel capable of reaching the geographic North Pole. —Laura Begley Bloom, Forbes.com, 29 Jan. 2026

The Coast Guard said the Scenic Eclipse II contacted the icebreaker late Friday night after becoming trapped roughly eight miles from McMurdo Sound. —Kelly McGreal, FOXNews.com, 28 Jan. 2026

Even with adequate icebreakers, the price to build and maintain mining or defensive facilities — like those envisioned in the yet-unfunded $175 billion Golden Dome missile defense network linking detectors and interceptors in space and on the ground — would be enormous. —Sam McNeil, Fortune, 23 Jan. 2026

Yet there is no meaningful way to do that — or anything else in the semiautonomous Danish territory — without icebreakers’ crucial ability to cut trails through frozen seas. —Sam McNeil, Los Angeles Times, 23 Jan. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1825, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Rhymes for icebreaker

• automaker
• boilermaker
• cabinetmaker
• coffeemaker
• troublemaker
• undertaker
• blackacre
• caretaker
• clockmaker
• dressmaker
• filmmaker
• homemaker

Kids Definition

icebreaker

noun

ice·​break·​er -ˌbrā-kər 

1

: a ship equipped to make and keep open a channel through ice

2

: something (as a joke or game) that makes one feel more at ease and less reserved (as at a party or meeting)