icebreakern.
/ˈʌɪsˌbreɪkə/, U.S. /ˈaɪsˌbreɪkər/ 1.
a. Something designed to break up moving ice, so as to diminish its impact; spec. a structure attached to a bridge pier or other construction to protect it from the pressure of flowing ice (cf. ice apron n. at ice n. Compounds 8 and starling n.2).
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the world > the earth > water > ice > [noun] > anything that breaks up ice
icebreaker1744
society > travel > means of travel > route or way > other means of passage or access > [noun] > bridge > parts of
pierlOE
bridge foota1450
heada1450
staddling1461
foota1500
bridge end1515
jowel1516
causey1523
starling?c1684
rib1735
spur1736
icebreaker1744
jetty1772
cutwater1776
roadway1798
sleeper1823
water-breaker1823
centrya1834
stem1835
suspension-tower1842
cantilever1850
semi-beam1850
pylon1851
half-chess1853
span1862
sway-bracing1864
needle-beam1867
ice apron1871
newel1882
flood-arch1891
needle girder1898
sway-brace1909
trough flooring1911
1744 J. T. Desaguliers Course Exper. Philos. II. xii. 442 There has also been erected..a Contrivance call'd an Ice-breaker, to prevent floating Pieces of Ice or Timber coming down the Stream from damaging the Machine.
1796 H. Hunter tr. J.-H. B. de Saint-Pierre Stud. Nature III. xi. 200 The tupelo, another great tree of Carolina,..has nearly the same dimensions at it's base, excepting the ice-breakers, or pallisades.
1819 D. Thomas Trav. Western Country 247 Notwithstanding these precautions, and that of placing ice-breakers to the south, [the bridge] was only saved from destruction the ensuing winter by the intrepidity of..one of the proprietors.
1875 E. H. Knight Amer. Mech. Dict. III. 1721/2 A view of the Swing Bridge..shows the..ice-breakers in the stream.
1903 Ice & Refrigeration Dec. 232/2 If the hoisting machinery be placed in a general line with the course of the stream it is an easy matter to protect it with ice breakers or a simple pile construction.
1980 E. Kleiman Immortals 16 But then the boat struck the ice breaker in front of the cement footing of the bridge, turned slowly like a drifting leaf, struck the footing itself this time.
b. A machine or hand tool designed for breaking ice, esp. for economic or domestic use.
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society > occupation and work > equipment > other specific types of equipment > [noun] > other tools and equipment
pollhache1324
poleaxe1356
muckrake1366
pestlea1382
botea1450
staff1459
press-board1558
reel1593
water crane1658
lathekin1659
tower1662
dressing hook1683
liner1683
hovel1686
flax-brake1688
nipper1688
horse1728
tap1797
feather-stick1824
bow1839
safety belt1840
economizer1841
throttle damper1849
cleat1854
leg brace1857
bark-peeler1862
pugging screw1862
nail driver1863
spool1864
turntable1865
ovate1872
tension bar1879
icebreaker1881
spreader1881
toucher1881
window pole1888
mushroom head1890
rat1894
slackline1896
auger1897
latch hook1900
thimble1901
horse1904
pipe jack1909
mulcher1910
hand plate1911
splashguard1917
cheese-cutter1927
airbrasive1945
impactor1945
fogger1946
1881 26th Ann. Rep. Cleveland Asylum for Insane, 1880 in Ohio Executive Documents, Ann. Rep. 1880 i. 487/1 (table) Ice-breaker..1..Ice-adze..1 [etc.].
2007 D. Wondrich Imbibe! ii Once the blocks..reached the bar, they had to be butchered... This meant ice-tongs and ice-picks,..ice-shavers, ice-breakers, ice-axes, ice-scoops, ice-bags, ice-mallets—a whole world of new tools to master.
2. Something that serves to break through cold reserve or stiffness, esp. facilitating conversation or social ease. Cf. to break the ice at ice n. Phrases 2.
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the mind > emotion > love > friendliness > social intercourse or companionship > [noun] > freedom from awkwardness in style or behaviour > something which breaks through cold reserve
icebreaker1825
1825 T. Hook Sayings & Doings 2nd Ser. I. 265 Any observation upon the weather, the usual ice-breaker upon such occasions.
1883 ‘M. Twain’ Life on Mississippi xxxix. 412 They closed up the inundation with a few words—having used it, evidently, as a mere ice-breaker and acquaintanceship-breeder—then they dropped into business.
1904 Daily Chron. 27 Feb. 4/6 If you must use an ice-breaker, the pianola is decidedly effective..as a cure for shyness.
1961 W. P. Bowman & R. H. Ball Theatre Lang. 178 Icebreaker, a fast song for chorus girls—Musical comedy.
1963 H. C. Barnard & J. A. Lauwerys Handbk. Brit. Educ. Terms 110 Icebreaker, a term used to describe a preliminary to a series of tests. It is designed to accustom the candidate to the experience which he is about to undergo, but its results are not counted in the ultimate assessment of the tests.
1963 M. McCarthy Group i. 19 The recipe was an icebreaker..everyone tasted it and agreed that it was the maple syrup that made all the difference.
1968 Daily Tel. 15 Nov. 16/7 Swearing, in addition to its cathartic effect and as a means of non-violent assault.., is also an ice-breaker.
1973 Sun-Herald (Sydney) 26 Aug. 80/3 Then they went on to ‘icebreakers’—short talks about themselves, reading a message they'd selected from a book.
2006 T. Anderson Riding Magic Carpet (2008) vi. 194 He even knew the street in which my mother now lived—a pretty good ice-breaker really.
3. Whaling. The bowhead whale, Balaena mysticetus. Now rare.
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the world > animals > mammals > order Cetacea (whales) > suborder Mystacoceti > [noun] > family Balaenidae (right whale) > genus Balaena (bowhead)
steeple-topc1440
Greenland whale1648
right whale1726
north-caper1731
nordcaper1762
mysticete1797
icebreaker1869
poggy1871
bowhead whale1883
bay whale1947
1869 Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia 33 This last named class are generally found amongst the broken ice the first of the season, and they have been known to break through...Thence they have been sometimes called ‘ice-breakers.’
1881 Baily’s Monthly Mag. Mar. 22 The Greenland whale..is styled by whalers the ‘ice-breaker’, because it breaks great masses of ice with its head.
1910 A. D. Cameron New North xvi. 282 The king of all whales, the founder of the municipality of Herschel Island, whom his pursuers call indiscriminately the ‘Arctic Whale’,..‘Bowhead’, ‘Right Whale’, or ‘Icebreaker’.
4. A vessel specially designed or adapted for breaking a channel through the ice. Cf. ice boat n. 1.
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society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > vessels with other specific uses > [noun] > ice-breaker
ice boat1741
icebreaker1875
1875 E. H. Knight Amer. Mech. Dict. II. 1161/2 An ice-breaker for harbors is a steam-vessel provided with means for..keeping open a channel for ships.
1890 Daily News 23 Dec. 5/5 The Finnish Government has had an icebreaker constructed strong enough to force the severest of ice.
1917 Arctic Pilot 1 32 The captains of vessels following an ice breaker in the ice will be subject to the orders of the captain of the ice breaker as regards moving in the ice.
1959 Times 16 Sept. 10/2 The Soviet atomic icebreaker Lenin left Leningrad to-day on her maiden voyage into the Baltic.
1995 Canad. Geographic Jan. 14/1 Crews aboard icebreakers in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and Northumberland Strait began spotting coyotes on the ice surrounding Prince Edward Island.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2012; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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