break the ice
To start to get to know people to avoid social awkwardness and formality.
Including a few fun details in large group introductions can be a great way to break the ice.
noun
Water in frozen (solid) form.
If thou doſt marry, Ile giue thee / This plague to thy dowry: / Be thou as chaſte as yce, as pure as ſnowe, / Thou ſhalt not ſcape calumny, to a Nunnery goe.
1882, Popular Science Monthly (volume 20), "The Freezing of a Salt Lake" It has always been difficult to explain how ice is formed on the surface of oceans while the temperature of maximum density is lower than that of cogelation, and the observations on this lake were instituted in the hope that they might throw light upon the subject.
Any frozen volatile chemical, such as ammonia or carbon dioxide.
Any volatile chemical, such as water, ammonia, or carbon dioxide, not necessarily in solid form, when discussing the composition of e.g. a planet as an ice giant vs a gas giant.
Above the core is the lower-density liquid mantle composed of ice materials under high pressure and temperature. This massive liquid layer would not be separated into layers of traditional ice compounds, but mixtures of radically different compounds originally consisting of water, carbon dioxide, methane, and ammonia […] Since the mass of the planet is dominated by the liquid mantle that itself consists of heated ices under pressure, both Uranus and Neptune are classified as giant ice planets.
Uranus and Neptune are […] usually classified separately as ice giants because they contain a much higher proportion of ice-forming substances such as water, ammonia, and methane. […] In the case of Uranus, the ice mantle must make up between 9.3 and 13.4 Earth masses worth of the total mass of the planet, which is 14.5 Earth masses. Similar proportions apply to Neptune. The commonly used term "ice mantle" is someone misleading, since the substance is actually a hot, slushy mixture that would be more aptly described as a water–ammonia ocean.
Something having an extreme coldness of manner.
a heart of ice
Her eyes flash with anger, her voice ice. "You afraid of the law? You haven't changed. I want you out of my house now."
Something, such as awkwardness, that prevents open social interaction.
The dialogues—or "raps"—usually take place on a monthly or bi-monthly basis and aim at fostering contacts hand at breaking through stereotypical notions held by both sides. "There's no question that there's ice to begin with," said Lance Bradley, who conducts the raps for Chelsea's Tenth Precinct.
break the ice
verb
To become ice; to freeze.
To cool with ice, as an injured body part or a beverage.
To treat runner's knee, you need to rest from running or any other high-impact activity, ice the knee, and strengthen the quadriceps through weight training.
To make icy; to freeze.
The bridge ices before the road.
To cover with icing (frosting made of sugar and milk or white of egg); to frost; as cakes, tarts, etc.
To put out a team for a match.
Milton Keynes have yet to ice a team this season
name
Abbreviation of Iceland.
Initialism of Institution of Civil Engineers.
Initialism of International Cultural Exchange.
Acronym of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“law-enforcement agency responsible for immigration and customs matters of the United States Federal government”).
Mr. Schlossberg’s rant angered activists for immigrant rights, who said it reinforced stereotypes that Spanish speakers are not citizens. And they worried that it perpetuated fear within immigrant communities of ICE’s aggressive tactics to deport those who are undocumented.
ICE agents were joined Sunday by officials from multiple Justice Department agencies as they targeted what they said are public safety and national security threats.
Initialism of Intercity-Express (“German high speed train”).