tip of the iceberg

English

A photomontage of what a whole iceberg might look like

Etymology

tip + iceberg. Floating icebergs have a significant proportion of their mass below the surface of the water.

Noun

the tip of the iceberg

1. (idiomatic) Only the beginning; just a small indication of a larger possibility; a problem is much bigger than it seems

   This is only the tip of the iceberg. Our problems can become much worse.

Translations

only the beginning

Chinese: Mandarin: 冰山一角 (cmn) (bīngshān yījiǎo) Dutch: topje van de ijsberg (nl) Finnish: jäävuoren huippu (fi) French: , partie émergée de l'iceberg (fr) f., pointe de l'iceberg (fr) f., sommet de l'iceberg (fr) m. German: Spitze des Eisbergs (de) f. Italian: punta dell'iceberg (it) f. Japanese: 氷山の一角 (ja) (ひょうざんのいっかく, hyōzan-no ikkaku) Polish: wierzchołek góry lodowej (pl) m.

Russian: верхушка айсберга (ru) (verxúška ájsberga) f. Scottish Gaelic: cìrean na tuile (gd) m. Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: вр̏х ле̏дено̄г брије̑га (sh) m. / вр̏х ле̏дено̄г бре̑га (sh) m. Roman: vȑh lȅdenōg brijȇga (sh) m. / vȑh lȅdenōg brȇga (sh) m. Spanish: punta del iceberg (es) f. Swedish: toppen av ett isberg (sv)

See also

• scratch the surface