Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Of, relating to, or produced by a glacier.
  • adjective Extremely slow, like the movement of a glacier.
  • adjective Characterized or dominated by the existence of glaciers. Used of a geologic epoch.
  • adjective Pleistocene.
  • adjective Extremely cold; icy: synonym: cold.
  • adjective Having the appearance of ice.
  • adjective Lacking warmth and friendliness.
  • adjective Coldly detached.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Icy; consisting of ice; frozen; hence, resembling ice; figuratively, having a cold, glassy look or manner.
  • In geology, referring to ice; associated with the geological agency of ice.
  • Of or relating to a glacier or an ice-sheet.
  • In chem., assuming the solid state as a result of concentration: used chiefly of certain acids (as acetic, sulphuric, and phosphoric acids) which are commonly seen as liquids but solidify at low temperatures when concentrated by removal of water.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Pertaining to ice or to its action; consisting of ice; frozen; icy; esp., pertaining to glaciers.
  • adjective (Chem.) Resembling ice; having the appearance and consistency of ice; -- said of certain solid compounds.
  • adjective (Chem.) an acid of such strength or purity as to crystallize at an ordinary temperature, in an icelike form; as acetic or carbolic acid.
  • adjective (Geol.) earth and rocks which have been transported by moving ice, land ice, or icebergs; bowlder drift.
  • adjective (Geol.) a period during which the climate of the modern temperate regions was polar, and ice covered large portions of the northern hemisphere to the mountain tops.
  • adjective (Geol.) See Glacier theory, under Glacier.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective of, or relating to glaciers
  • adjective figuratively very slow
  • adjective cold and icy
  • adjective having the appearance of ice
  • adjective cool and unfriendly

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective relating to or derived from a glacier
  • adjective devoid of warmth and cordiality; expressive of unfriendliness or disdain
  • adjective extremely cold

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[French, from Old French, icy, from Latin glaciālis, from glaciēs, ice; see gel- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From French glacial, from Latin glaciālis, from glaciēs ("ice").

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Examples

  • I would be interested for your explanation of atmospheric gas bubbles and volcanic ash in glacial ice.

    Man made global warming? No way! 2009

  • I would be interested for your explanation of atmospheric gas bubbles and volcanic ash in glacial ice.

    Man made global warming? No way! 2009

  • So while we may be seeing a gradual sea rise due to glacial melt, once the glacial is gone, things may get hot fast.

    An Inconvenient Truth 2006

  • So while we may be seeing a gradual sea rise due to glacial melt, once the glacial is gone, things may get hot fast.

    Veniceblog: 2006

  • This may be spurious conclusion if you superimpose the jökulhlaup observation on a continuous long term glacial retreat since the end of the last ice age of the non-little variety.

    Unthreaded #8 « Climate Audit 2007

  • On cooling from the fused state it forms a glassy solid, and on this account is often called glacial phosphoric acid.

    An Elementary Study of Chemistry William McPherson

  • I use it to put current climate change into perspective, but also also to make the point that small changes in the earth’s temperature can be dramatic – in particular, the graph indicates that the difference between the last ice age and the current inter-glacial is about 2°C average global temperature.

    2009 July 30 | Serendipity 2009

  • I use it to put current climate change into perspective, but also also to make the point that small changes in the earth’s temperature can be dramatic – in particular, the graph indicates that the difference between the last ice age and the current inter-glacial is about 2°C average global temperature.

    SE for the Planet talk now online | Serendipity 2009

  • I use it to put current climate change into perspective, but also also to make the point that small changes in the earth’s temperature can be dramatic – in particular, the graph indicates that the difference between the last ice age and the current inter-glacial is about 2°C average global temperature.

    2009 July | Serendipity 2009

  • The first is that any advance toward implementing a proper commitment on reducing carbon dioxide emissions will again be what used to be known as glacial.

    Poor must have the burden of global warming lifted 2011

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