Dictionary
Thesaurus
Encyclopedia
Translator
Web

iceberg

 - 5 dictionary results

ice⋅berg

[ahys-burg]
–noun
1. a large floating mass of ice, detached from a glacier and carried out to sea.
2. Informal. an emotionally cold person.
3. Australian Informal. a person who swims or surfs regularly in winter.
4. tip of the iceberg, the first hint or revelation of something larger or more complex: The new evidence in the case is just the tip of the iceberg.

Origin:
1765–75; half Anglicization, half adoption of D ijsberg ice mountain; c. G Eisberg, Sw isberg
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To iceberg
ice·berg   (īs'bûrg')   
n.  
  1. A massive floating body of ice broken away from a glacier. Only about 10 percent of its mass is above the surface of the water.

  2. Informal A cold, aloof person.


[Partial translation of Dutch ijsberg, from Middle Dutch ijsbergh : ijs, ice + bergh, mountain; see bhergh-2 in Indo-European roots.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Cultural Dictionary

iceberg

A large piece of ice that has broken away from a glacier at the shore and floated out to sea.

Note: Most of the ice in an iceberg is underwater, leaving only the “tip of the iceberg” visible — a fact that is often alluded to in discussions of subjects in which the most important aspects are hidden from view.
The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Slang Dictionary
iceberg

  1. n.
    a cold and unemotional person. (See also iceberg slim.) : What an insensitive iceberg!
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
Cite This Source
Word Origin & History

iceberg 
1774, partial loan-transl. of Du. ijsberg, lit. "ice mountain," from ijs "ice" + berg "mountain." An earlier term was sea-hill (1694). Phrase tip of the iceberg, in a figurative sense, first recorded 1963.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
Search another word or see iceberg on Thesaurus | Reference
FacebookTwitterFollow us: