Definition of drift ice in English:

drift ice


mass noun
  • Detached pieces of ice drifting with the wind or ocean currents.

    ‘the blue ocean was dotted with pans of drift ice’
    • ‘In August 1905, the ship resumed its course through fog and drift ice.’
    • ‘The boat transport of supplies back to the station rarely lacked dangerous moments from encounters with fast-moving drift ice and walruses.’
    • ‘Belhadan's location as the northernmost ice-free port of the Empire helped explain its importance, but it wasn't so far south that drift ice or icebergs were unheard of.’
    • ‘This choice allowed us to travel comfortably with the wind at our backs while viewing the constant vista of mountains and valleys, the ice-speckled Atlantic Ocean in the distance dotted with floes of drift ice from Quebec and Labrador.’