ice-age
/ˈaɪs eɪdʒ/ (bre, ipa) · /ˈaɪs eɪdʒ/ (ame, ipa)
ice-age — noun
1. a long period in Earth's history, often lasting tens of thousands of years, when
a long period in Earth's history, often lasting tens of thousands of years, when the climate was extremely cold and huge sheets of ice covered much of the land.
Scientists believe the Earth has experienced several major ice ages over the last million years.
countable plural: several ice ages
The last ice age ended roughly 11,000 years ago, as temperatures rose and glaciers melted.
temporal reference: the last ice age ended
During the ice age, much of northern Europe and Canada lay under thick ice sheets.
Kofi's geography class studied how early humans hunted mammoths during the ice age.
The museum exhibition showed what the landscape looked like during the last ice age.
- glacial period
a more technical, scientific term used in geology; 'ice age' is the common everyday word
- glaciation
refers specifically to the process or state of being covered by glaciers; more abstract than 'ice age'
- ice epoch
very formal geological term; rarely used in everyday English
- interglacial
a warmer period between ice ages within an overall ice age cycle
文法句型
the ~
during the ~
用法筆記
Often used with the definite article 'the' (the ice age) to refer to a specific known period, or in the plural (ice ages) to refer to multiple such periods in geological history.