ˈice-boat
1. A boat mounted on runners for propulsion on the ice; spec. a light triangular structure mounted on skate-runners, and fitted with a mast and sail, used as a pleasure-boat for traversing smooth ice.
| 1819 Pantologia, Ice-boats, boats so constructed as to sail upon ice..They go with incredible swiftness, sometimes so quick as to affect the breath. 1868 B. J. Lossing Hudson 277 The river had offered good sport for skaters, and the navigators of ice-boats. 1875 Knight Dict. Mech. 1161/1 The ice-boats on the Maeze and Y, in Holland, consist of ordinary boats mounted on runners. |
2. A boat or barge employed to break the ice in a river or canal.
| 1842 Francis Dict. Arts etc. s.v., The other kind of ice⁓boat is a heavily laden barge, drawn along a frozen canal by a number of horses, and in its passage breaking through the ice, and thus clearing the navigation. 1892 Daily News 31 Dec. 3/4 This was the ice-boat—a small barge, sharp in the bows, much like a tug steamer, and the greenish-grey sheet of ice heaved before the pressure of its coming. |
3. A fishing-vessel equipped with facilities for the refrigeration of fish. N. Amer.
| 1878 Saskatchewan Herald (Battleford) 29 July 4/1 The crew of the Lady Ellen are building an ice-boat for the fishing trade this winter. 1941 E. J. Kammer Socio-Econ. Survey Marshdwellers Louisiana viii. 118 Ice boats are larger than the ordinary trawl boat and are used only for transporting shrimp. 1970 National Fisherman Sept. 18-A/4 They were ice boats, designed for a 10-ton capacity. |
Hence ˈice-ˌboating, sailing in an ice-boat.
| 1885 Pall Mall G. 15 Apr. 4/2 Ice-boating is perhaps a more dangerous amusement than we are led to believe..and ice-boat accidents are frequent. 1887 Cornh. Mag. Mar. 275 Ice-boating as a Canadian sport is most extensively practised near the cities and towns upon the great lakes of Erie, Huron, and Ontario. |
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Add: ˈice-boater n., one who sails or races in an ice-boat (sense 1).
| 1912 J. C. Dier Bk. Winter Sports 1 The sail was fitted to a frame, and the ice-boater learned the thrill of flying faster than the wind that drove him. 1988 Newsday (Nassau ed.) 8 Jan. 22/3 Iceboaters..always seem to find a lake or bay on which to race. |