ice axe

British

noun

a light axe used by mountaineers for cutting footholds in snow or ice, to provide an anchor point, or to control a slide on snow; it has a spiked tip and a head consisting of a pick and an adze

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

This includes not having suitable clothing and equipment, like crampons and an ice axe, not checking and fully understanding the weather forecast, like which wind speeds are too strong, and not navigating properly, he says.

From BBC

Using a soup ladle attached to an ice axe, Swanson reached out, straining to touch the ground as the helicopter lowered nearer and nearer the summit.

From Literature

Whitney from this point on in the winter season should bring crampons — much larger spikes that attach firmly to mountaineering boots and dig deep into snow and ice to prevent falls – and an ice axe.

From Los Angeles Times

Arran Mountain Rescue warned conditions on Arran's hills were highly changeable and asked climbers to equip themselves for full winter conditions with ice axe and crampons.

From BBC

He said this meant crampons and an ice axe were also needed.

From BBC

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023