2025-07-04 Phrases with ‘ice’ – English In A Minute

Introduction

You know ‘ice’ – you put it in drinks to make them cold, you can skate on it and there’s a lot of it in the Arctic! There are some English phrases with the word ‘ice’ – learn some of them here with Beth.

Phrases with ‘ice’

break the ice
do or say something to make the atmosphere less tense

• Suddenly there was a bad smell in the room, so I started talking about my holiday to break the ice.

an icebreaker
a game or activity that’s done to make everyone feel comfortable together and relieve any tension

• We played an icebreaker where we told two truths and one lie. It helped us get to know each other.

skate on thin ice
do something risky which could have negative consequences

• I wouldn’t climb any higher on that broken ladder. You’re skating on thin ice.

put (something) on ice
delay something 

• I don’t have time to make you a cake today. I’ll put that plan on ice for now.

TRANSCRIPT

Note: This is not a word-for-word transcript.

Beth
Ice – that’s this. But what phrases can we use with ‘ice’? 

If you break the ice, you do or say something to make the atmosphere less tense. It could be tense because everyone is strangers or because of something like an argument.
 
I know you two still aren’t talking. Shall we go for a coffee to break the ice?
 
A game that breaks the ice is called an icebreaker. These are often used at the start of courses to help everyone get to know each other.
 
If you’re skating on thin ice, you’re doing something risky which could have negative consequences.
 
You’re skating on thin ice by not doing your homework. She’s going to be so mad with you.
 
If you put a plan on ice, you decide to delay the plan.
 
We were going to go ice skating, but we’ve put the plan on ice because my sister’s broken her leg!