Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner's English Dictionary - ice-breaker

also icebreaker (ice-breakers) 1. An ice-breaker is a large ship which sails through frozen waters, breaking the ice as it goes, in order to create a passage for other ships. N-COUNT 2. An ice-breaker is something that someone says or does in order to make it easier for people have never met before to talk to each other. This exercise can be quite a useful ice-breaker for new groups. N-COUNT