ice cutter

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   historical: a worker who cuts and harvests blocks of natural ice from a frozen lake, pond, or river

   Each ice cutter carried a saw onto the frozen pond before sunrise.

2. 2
   noun

   a tool or machine used to score or cut ice into blocks

   The horse-drawn ice cutter scored a regular grid across the pond.

A transparent compound of ice and cutter, the agent noun from cut + -er. Before mechanical refrigeration, ice cutters harvested pond and river ice for storage in icehouses. The same compound also named the saw, plow, or horse-drawn machine used to score and divide the ice.

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