Meaning & use
iced coffee
Last updated
Meaning
noununcountable
Coffee that is served cold, typically poured over ice cubes.
Grammar: Uncountable: you say 'some iced coffee' or 'a glass of iced coffee', not 'an iced coffee' when talking about the drink in general. However, 'an iced coffee' can mean one cup or serving.
Patterns
- a glass of iced coffee
- an iced coffee
- drink iced coffee
On hot days, I prefer iced coffee to hot tea.
She ordered an iced coffee with extra milk.
This café makes the best iced coffee in town.
Common combinations
- a glass of iced coffee
- He drank a glass of iced coffee to cool down.
- an iced coffee
- I'll have an iced coffee, please.
- iced coffee with milk
- She likes her iced coffee with milk and sugar.
- make iced coffee
- You can make iced coffee by pouring cold brew over ice.
Synonyms and how they differ
- cold brew
- Cold brew is coffee made by steeping grounds in cold water for many hours; it is often served iced but can be served without ice. Iced coffee is simply coffee served cold, usually with ice.
- frappé
- A frappé is a blended, frothy iced coffee drink, often with milk and sugar; iced coffee is usually just chilled coffee over ice.
Opposites
Commonly confused: iced coffee or ice coffee?
iced coffee vs ice coffee
Some people say 'ice coffee', but the standard term is 'iced coffee' (with -d). 'Ice coffee' is less common and may be considered nonstandard.
Practice
It was a very hot afternoon, so she ordered a(n) ______ to cool down.
Choose one answer.
'Iced coffee' is the cold coffee drink that fits cooling down on a hot day. The other options are hot drinks, which would not help cool down.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “iced coffee”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.