icebreaker
icebreaker Lexical Profile
icebreaker Game Scores & Validity
• noun
A remark, activity, or game designed to relieve tension, reduce awkwardness, and facilitate social interaction among people who do not know each other well.
"The facilitator started the corporate workshop with a quick icebreaker to help the team members relax and learn each other's names."
A robust, specially designed ship with a reinforced hull intended to navigate through ice-covered waters and clear a navigable passage for other vessels.
"The scientific expedition relied on a heavy nuclear icebreaker to reach the remote Arctic research station."
Word Origin & Etymology
A compound of 'ice' and 'breaker', first recorded in the mid-19th century to describe ships designed to clear navigable paths through frozen waters. The figurative sense of relieving social tension emerged later in the 19th century.