Iceballs

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Round, solid pieces of frozen water often used in beverages or found in nature as hail or snow
2. Small spherical forms of frozen precipitation typically occurring during storms
3. Chunks of ice, commonly occurring when water freezes rapidly, sometimes seen in recreational activities like snowball fights

Etymology: "Iceballs" is the plural of "iceball", a compound of "ice" and "ball" with no tricks hidden in it. The pieces mean exactly what they say: "ice" is frozen water, and "ball" is a round object. Together they name small round lumps of frozen precipitation, the kind that form during storms. The plain transparency of the compound is the real story here. English speakers reached for two of the most basic words in the language and simply put them together, which is why the term needs no special explanation to be understood. Compounds like this are a common way for English to name a new or local phenomenon, since the parts already carry the meaning.

Synonyms: hailstones, snowballs, frozen spheres, ice pellets, ice chunks