noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   An icicle-shaped rust formation, formed on shipwrecks etc. by underwater microbes that consume iron.

Etymology

Blend of rust + icicle, coined by Robert Ballard, who first observed them on the wreck of the Titanic in 1986.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.