French word

verglas

Pronunciation

IPA/vɛʁgla/

Meaning

  • masculine nounblack ice

Example

Attention, il y a du verglas sur la route.

Be careful, there's black ice on the road.

Illustration for verglas (black ice)

More examples

La voiture a glissé à cause du verglas.

The car slid because of black ice.

Core concept

A nearly invisible sheet of ice lying over pavement like clear varnish, so the surface looks safe but loses grip.

Common phrases

  • du verglas

    some black ice

  • risque de verglas

    risk of black ice

  • plaques de verglas

    patches of black ice

Similar words

givre: A white coating of fine ice crystals on plants or other surfaces.
glace: Frozen water in its solid form.
gel: The process by which water freezes into ice.
neige: White ice crystals that fall from the sky and accumulate on the ground.

Definition in French

Fine pellicule de glace formée à la surface des routes ou des trottoirs par la congélation d'eau, rendant la chaussée glissante et parfois invisible à l'œil nu.

Word origin

The French form comes through Old French verreglas, a compound of verre and glace, named for ice that resembles glass.

Usage tips

  • The final s in verglas is silent, and the g begins the consonant cluster /gl/, as in glace.

Opposites

  • dégelthawnoun

Related words

  • verglacerfreeze oververb
  • verglacéice-coveredadjective

Word lists with this word