ice up

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Word: Ice Up

Part of Speech: Verb

Definition: "Ice up" means to become covered with a layer of ice. This often happens to surfaces like windows, roads, or even objects when temperatures drop and moisture freezes.

Usage Instructions:

• You can use "ice up" when talking about something that has become frozen or covered in ice.
• It is typically used in contexts related to weather or temperature.

Example Sentence:

• "The pond started to ice up after the temperature dropped below freezing."

Advanced Usage:

• In more technical or specialized contexts, "ice up" can refer to equipment or machinery that becomes frozen, affecting its operation. For instance, "The aircraft's wings iced up during the storm, leading to a delayed takeoff."

Word Variants:

• Iced Up (Past Tense): "The roads iced up overnight, making driving very dangerous."
• Icing Up (Present Continuous): "The car's windshield is icing up because of the cold weather."

Different Meanings:

While "ice up" primarily refers to freezing, it can also describe a situation where someone becomes emotionally distant or cold. For example, "After the argument, she seemed to ice up towards him."

Synonyms:

• Freeze over
• Frost
• Solidify (in a context of freezing)

Idioms and Phrasal Verbs:

• "Break the ice": An idiom meaning to initiate conversation in a social setting. This is different from "ice up" but can be useful to know.
• "Ice over": Similar to "ice up," it means to cover with ice, often used for surfaces like lakes or ponds.

Academic

Verb

1. become covered with a layer of ice; of a surface such as a window
   • When the wings iced up, the pilot was forced to land his plane

Synonyms

• frost over
• ice over