adjective

• Free from or not covered by ice.

  ‘the Gulf Stream keeps the Norwegian coast ice-free all year round’

  More example sentences

  • ‘the annual ice-free period begins between late June and mid-July’
  • ‘We headed back north of Bridgeman Island in hopes of getting to the relatively ice-free waters of the eastern Bransfield Basin.’
  • ‘The extra shelter from the riverside developments saw the walkways stay ice-free last week.’
  • ‘In winter, a sunny location will help an electric heater keep the water ice-free.’
  • ‘The tree's low, sweeping branches moderate ground-level temperatures in winter, helping keep streams ice-free.’
  • ‘With less krill to go around during the ice-free years, fewer penguins survive to adulthood.’
  • ‘About 13,000 years ago, an ice-free corridor opened up, allowing brown bears to travel south.’
  • ‘Weather data were collected during the ice-free season from a meteorological station situated in a central location on the study area.’
  • ‘The animals spend most of the winter on pack ice and invariably return to their birthplace to breed in ice-free coastal areas in summer.’
  • ‘Canadian and New Zealand scientists have found living microbes in the soil of an ice-free region of Antarctica.’
  • ‘Exports are hampered by the country's oldest strategic difficulty: the lack of deep-water, ice-free ports.’
  • ‘Even in the depth of winter, Norway's ports and harbours are usually ice-free.’
  • ‘Flocks of penguins occasionally appear where they have dipped into the sea from ice-free pockets near the shore.’
  • ‘Even with such a low average temperature some tropical portions of the Earth may have remained ice-free.’
  • ‘While the lake was ice-free, surface vessels kept the lifeline in operation, and pipelines and electric cables were laid under the water.’
  • ‘By 12,000 years ago, they had made their way south from the interior of Alaska through an ice-free corridor to the high plains of North America.’
  • ‘Jason's onboard altimeter precisely maps the surface height of 95 percent of Earth's ice-free oceans every 10 days to an accuracy of about 1.33 inches.’
  • ‘These waterfowl migrate early in spring and move northward from their wintering grounds as soon as wetlands become ice-free.’
  • ‘Halifax has long been a bustling international port and naval base, as well as being the only ice-free port on Canada's eastern seaboard.’
  • ‘Large diesel generators must produce all electricity locally, using fuel delivered by a river barge during the summer months when the Yukon is ice-free.’
  • ‘Water sources may be kept ice-free by an immersible electric heater that goes right into the birdbath water.’

  Synonyms

  clear, passable, navigable, unblocked, free from obstructions, unobstructed