break the ice — start talking
collocationB1IELTS 5+neutralcommon
to do or say something to make people feel more comfortable and willing to talk, especially when they first meet or in a new situation.
Say it like a native
Textbook He told a joke in order to reduce the initial social awkwardness.
Native He told a joke to break the ice.
'Break the ice' is the set idiom for easing first-meeting tension; the paraphrase is clinical.
Pattern: break the ice (with someone)
In use
- Telling a funny story helped break the ice at the party.communication
- In group discussions, I usually ask a simple question to break the ice and make everyone feel more comfortable.IELTS speaking
Common mistake
✗ I told a joke to break ice.
✓ I told a joke to break the ice.
It's 'break THE ice' — the 'the' is fixed.
Common collocations
break the ice— help, to, a good way to, icebreaker
Don't confuse it
Do not confuse with 'break up', which means to end a relationship.