ice

I. n

1.

diamonds or other jewellery. An underworld term in all English-speaking areas, this word has also been heard in everyday speech.

2.

an illicit drug which appeared in Hawaii in 1989 and for a time seemed poised to replace crack as a major social scourge in the USA. Ice is a highly synthesised version of methamphetamine (the archetypal speed as abused in the 1960s and 1970s under the name of methedrine).

II. vb

to kill. An American underworld term which may initially have been a short-ened form of 'put someone on ice'. The word has been popularised by its use in crime films and TV series.

► 'Maybe he saw the Hellinger killing go down - they iced him to keep him quiet.' (The Rockford Files, US TV series, 1978)