patch ice

English

Alternative forms

• patch-ice

Noun

patch ice (uncountable)

1. Ice in overlapping pieces in the sea.
   • 1834, “Recent Discoveries in the Antarctic Ocean”, in The Journal of the Royal Geographical Society, page 107:

     The wind also veered now to the westward, and the vessles were hauled up to the south-east, steering between ice-bergs and broken patch ice; but scarcely any birds were yet to be seen; though, on the 20th, two nellies were observed, and one albatross, being the first since leaving the latitude of South Georgia.

   • 1979, United States. Bureau of Land Management, Final Environmental Impact Statement: Proposed Federal/State Oil and Gas Lease Sale Beaufort Sea, page 80:

     Adult seals tend to remain in the moving patch ice, but the young seals are often seen in ice free nearshore areas.·

   • 2014, Marc Shell, Islandology: Geography, Rhetoric, Politics, page 141:

     Or maybe they fought on patch ice or ice-patch reef (where the water isolates the ice above, which becomes an eggshell-like membrane).

   • 2023, C. A. Stephens, Left on Labrador; or, The cruise of the Schooner-yacht "Curlew":

     Toward night the wind changed to north, and thinned out the patch-ice, driving it southward, so that by ten o'clock, evening , we were able to get in our ice-anchors and make sail, continuing our voyage, and making about four knots an hour till nine o'clock next morning, when we were off a small island, the first of a straggling group on the south side of the strait.

2. A coating of ice that covers an area of the ground, caused by snow that has melted and then refrozen.
   • 1977, Stephen King, The Shining:

     There had already been flurries, and in some places the road down from the Overlook was slick with patch ice.

   • 1995, Robert Peters, For You, Lili Marlene: A Memoir of World War II, page 3:

     Patch ice clung to reeds and willow branches along the banks.

   • 2007, Kenneth A. Brewer,, AASHTO Maintenance Manual for Roadways and Bridges, page 74:

     Eliminate shadows that will cause patch ice.

   • 2011, J. M. Hayes, Prairie Gothic, page 54:

     There was always enough patch ice in the intersection to let the back end go loose on her, only she steered into the skid and kept it on the road, managing a pretty smooth downshift into second in the process.

   • 2013, Jane Haddam, Orania Papazoglou, Once and Always Murder:

     The snows always come, and with them some of the nastiest patch ice in the known universe . There was a lot of patch ice that first day of February, stuck in the hollows at the bottoms of the hills, glowing black and wicked at the worst spots in the curves—but, believe it or not, it wasn't what I was worried about.

3. Ice in a skating rink that has been repaired or resurfaced to fix imperfections, cracks, or rough spots.
   • 1976, Vermont Life - Volumes 31-32, page 58:

     It contains a 200 by 85-foot hockey ice surface and a 100 by 61-foot "patch ice" rink for figure skating, practice and instruction.

   • 1989, Lee Valley & Gillingham Ice Rinks, page 27:

     The differences in usage by session/type of use are evident in Figure 4.4 which shows that there were more users in all categories, except patch ice and parties, in 1984/5 than 1985/6.

   • 1994, Debbi Wilkes, Greg Cable, Ice Time: A Portrait of Figure Skating, page 179:

     Some other schools bill for every individual element: freestyle ice, patch ice, lectures and lessons.