Rate this phrase:0.0 / 0 votes

Break the Ice

To overcome any awkward situation, to help strangers know each other, to overcome social communication difficulties all in a friendly manner, to overcome any sort of nervous situation between different people

Etymology:

  • This term was first used in the 15th and 16th century. Shakespeare used this term for different expressions. This term was also used by navigators to roam around in ice. During extreme winters waterways usually became blocked with ice and it was important to break the ice to move forward. Special boats were designed to break ice and allow other liners to move forward without any difficulty.
43 Views

It was important to break the ice, for the new students, by starting a sports week.

Submitted on February 25, 2019

Additional definitions for 'Break the Ice':

break the iceTo start to get to know people, by avoiding awkwardness.
See them all »

Translation

Find a translation for the Break the Ice phrase in other languages:

Select another language:

  • - Select -
  • 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
  • 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
  • Español (Spanish)
  • Esperanto (Esperanto)
  • 日本語 (Japanese)
  • Português (Portuguese)
  • Deutsch (German)
  • العربية (Arabic)
  • Français (French)
  • Русский (Russian)
  • ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
  • 한국어 (Korean)
  • עברית (Hebrew)
  • Gaeilge (Irish)
  • Українська (Ukrainian)
  • اردو (Urdu)
  • Magyar (Hungarian)
  • मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
  • Indonesia (Indonesian)
  • Italiano (Italian)
  • தமிழ் (Tamil)
  • Türkçe (Turkish)
  • తెలుగు (Telugu)
  • ภาษาไทย (Thai)
  • Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
  • Čeština (Czech)
  • Polski (Polish)
  • Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
  • Românește (Romanian)
  • Nederlands (Dutch)
  • Ελληνικά (Greek)
  • Latinum (Latin)
  • Svenska (Swedish)
  • Dansk (Danish)
  • Suomi (Finnish)
  • فارسی (Persian)
  • ייִדיש (Yiddish)
  • հայերեն (Armenian)
  • Norsk (Norwegian)
  • English (English)

Nearby phrases

Some more phrases from our dictionary similar to Break the Ice

How to pronounce this phrase?

Discuss this Break the Ice phrase with the community:

0 Comments

    Citation

    Use the citation below to add this Break the Ice definition to your bibliography:

    Style:MLAChicagoAPA

    "Break the Ice." Phrases.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 30 Dec. 2024. <https://www.phrases.com/phrase/break-the-ice_44511>.

    We need you!

    Help us build the largest human-edited phrases collection on the web!

    Quiz

    Are you a phrases master?

    »
    He's struggling to make _______ meet.
    A friends
    B lives
    C ends
    D calculations