ice-cream
Definition
- Noun:
- Frozen dessert: "ice-cream" refers to a sweet, frozen food made from cream or milk, often with added sugar and flavorings such as fruit or chocolate.
Usage Examples
- Noun:
- She bought a cone of ice-cream from the shop. (A single serving of the frozen dessert.)
- The children love vanilla ice-cream with chocolate sauce. (A specific flavor of the frozen treat.)
Advanced Usage
"to be on ice-cream": to be eating or consuming ice-cream as a treat.
- The kids are on ice-cream for dessert tonight. (They are having ice-cream as their sweet course.)
"ice-cream social": a social event where ice-cream is served, often with toppings.
- The neighborhood organized an ice-cream social for the summer festival. (A community gathering featuring ice-cream.)
Variants and Related Words
Ice-cream cone (n): a cone-shaped wafer or pastry used to hold ice-cream.
- He licked his ice-cream cone carefully to avoid drips. (The edible container for the frozen dessert.)
Ice-cream parlor (n): a shop or establishment that sells ice-cream.
- We stopped at the ice-cream parlor for a milkshake. (A store specializing in frozen treats.)
Ice-cream sundae (n): a dessert consisting of ice-cream topped with syrup, nuts, whipped cream, and often a cherry.
- She ordered a hot fudge ice-cream sundae. (A elaborate ice-cream dessert with toppings.)
Synonyms
- Frozen dessert: a general term for sweet, frozen foods including ice-cream, sorbet, and gelato.
- Gelato: an Italian-style ice-cream with a denser, creamier texture.
- Sorbet: a frozen dessert made from fruit juice or puree, without dairy.
Idioms
"to be made of ice-cream": (informal) to be very sweet or soft-hearted.
- Don't be so strict; you're not made of ice-cream! (You are not overly soft or fragile.)
"to sell ice-cream to Eskimos": to try to sell something to people who already have plenty of it; a futile or overly ambitious task.
- Convincing him to buy another car is like selling ice-cream to Eskimos. (It is a pointless effort.)