rhizoverbBeta
DictionaryiglooSnow shelter
noun

igloo

IG-loo/ˈɪɡluː/

A dome-shaped Inuit shelter built from blocks of snow.

Fitted snow blocks form the igloo’s domed walls.

A single dome-shaped snow-block shelter with clearly visible fitted block courses and a low arched entrance, isolated on a small patch of snow.
Etymology

Igloo comes from a word meaning “house” or “dwelling”; English uses it more narrowly for the traditional dome-shaped snow shelter.

In context

BBC Earth0:04
A shelter, an igloo, can be built out of nothing but snow.
Building My First Igloo | A Boy Among Polar Bears | BBC Earth

More examples

  • The entrance to the igloo was low and narrow.
  • The exhibit explained how an igloo retains warmth.
  • A small igloo stood beside the snow trail.

Forms

igloo · igloos

Similar words

shelter
Shelter is the broad category; igloo here identifies a particular snow-block structure.
quinzhee
A quinzhee is hollowed from a mound of snow; an igloo is built from fitted blocks.