Meaning & use
put on ice
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Meanings
phraseidiominformal
To delay something, or stop it from going ahead for now, often hoping to continue it later.
Grammar: Used with the thing delayed as the object: put the project on ice. The passive is very common: the deal was put on ice.
Patterns
- put something on ice
- something is put on ice
- put something on ice for now
The company put the new factory on ice until the market improves.
Our trip to Japan has been put on ice because flights are too expensive.
They decided to put the wedding on ice and save more money first.
phraseidiominformalfigurative
To keep something safe and unused, ready to be used or dealt with at a later time.
Grammar: Often used for plans, ideas, or players who are not currently active but may return.
Patterns
- keep something on ice
- hold something on ice
The coach kept the young striker on ice until the second half.
We have several designs on ice in case the client changes their mind.
Common combinations
- put a plan on ice
- They put the expansion plan on ice after the bad news.
- put a project on ice
- The whole project was put on ice for six months.
- put a deal on ice
- The two firms put the deal on ice while lawyers checked the details.
- be put on ice
- The reforms have been put on ice until after the election.
- keep something on ice
- Keep that idea on ice and we'll look at it next year.
Synonyms and how they differ
- shelve
- Shelve is slightly more formal and suggests you have stopped working on something indefinitely, while put on ice often hints you may return to it soon.
- postpone
- Postpone simply means moving something to a later date; put on ice is more informal and suggests a pause with no fixed new date.
- delay
- Delay focuses on being late or slow; put on ice suggests an active decision to stop for now.
- suspend
- Suspend is formal and often official, as in suspend talks; put on ice is conversational.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: put on ice or on thin ice? put on ice or ice over?
put on ice vs on thin ice
On thin ice means you are in a risky position and may get into trouble, not that something has been delayed.
put on ice vs ice over
Ice over means a surface becomes covered with ice; it has nothing to do with delaying plans.
Practice
The board decided to ______ the merger until next year.
Choose one answer.
'Put it on ice' is the fixed idiom meaning to delay or pause something. 'On thin ice' means being in a risky situation, and 'put it on the ice' wrongly adds 'the'.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “put on ice”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.