noun
floe
FLOH/fləʊ/
A large sheet of floating ice.
Water surrounds the broad, flat ice floe.
Etymology
Floe probably comes from Norwegian flo, meaning “layer” or “slab.” Arctic explorers used it for floating ice, highlighting its broad, slab-like shape.
In context
these predators look like they're just lazing around on an ice floe so content and indifferent to us but if they spotted a small seal or a penguin close by they'd be in the water in a flash
More examples
- A large floe drifted past the ship.
- The floe broke into smaller sheets.
- Open water surrounded the floating floe.
Forms
floe · floes
Similar words
- iceberg
- An iceberg is a large floating mass broken from land ice; a floe is a sheet of floating ice.
- ice sheet
- An ice sheet generally covers a large land area; a floe floats freely in water.