icicle

noun

ici·​cle ˈī-ˌsi-kəl 

1

: a pendent mass of ice formed by the freezing of dripping water

2

: an emotionally cold person

3

: a long narrow strip (as of foil) used to decorate a Christmas tree

Did you know?

Old English gicel, meaning icicle, became Middle English ikyl or ikel and later modern English ickle, which survives as a dialect word in Yorkshire, England. The word for ice in Old English is is, and in a manuscript of about the year 1000 we find Latin stiria, “icicle,” glossed, somewhat redundantly, as ises gicel, that is, “an icicle of ice.” Some 300 years later, in Middle English, this became the compound known today as icicle, which means precisely what it did 1000 years ago.

Synonyms

• cold fish
• cold turkey
• iceberg

Examples of icicle in a Sentence

his wife is such an icicle you're lucky to get so much as a greeting from her

Recent Examples on the Web

It was filled with flowers, candles, branches and crystal icicles to create a winter wonderland. —Emy Lacroix, People.com, 4 Apr. 2025

Another high point was snowshoeing in a forested canyon where a waterfall was all icicles. —Fran Golden, AFAR Media, 28 Feb. 2025

At one point the path is flanked by rugged rock walls dripping with icicles that glisten in the sun. —Jeanine Barone, Forbes, 5 Mar. 2025

Snow lay white and shining over the pleated hills, and icicles hung from the forest trees. —New York Times, 25 Jan. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English isikel, from is ice + ikel icicle, from Old English gicel; akin to Old High German ihilla icicle, Middle Irish aig ice

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for icicle

• bicycle

Kids Definition

icicle

noun

ici·​cle ˈī-ˌsik-əl 

: a hanging mass of ice formed by the freezing of dripping water