iceberg

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a very large mass of floating ice that has broken away from a glacier or ice shelf

   The ship altered course after radar detected an iceberg ahead.

2. 2
   noun

   iceberg lettuce, a variety with crisp leaves packed into a tight head

   She added chopped iceberg to the salad for extra crunch.

Borrowed in the late eighteenth century from Dutch ijsberg, literally 'ice mountain' (ijs 'ice' + berg 'mountain'). Its hidden underwater mass later inspired the figurative phrase tip of the iceberg.

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