igloo

igloo (ĭg`l) [Inuit,=house]. The Eskimos traditionally had three types of houses. A summer house, which was basically a tent, a winter house, which was usually partially dug into the ground and covered with earth; and a snow or ice house. The latter was a dome-shaped dwelling constructed of blocks of snow placed in an ascending spiral with a low tunnel entrance. Although it can provide adequate protection for weeks in severe cold, it was used almost exclusively as a temporary shelter while traveling.

---

igloo

Temporary dome-shaped winter home or hunting-ground dwelling of Canadian and Greenland Inuit (Eskimos), made from blocks of snow. The builder chooses a deep snowdrift of fine-grained, compact snow and cuts it into blocks. After a row of blocks has been laid in a circle, their top surfaces are shaved off in a sloping angle to form the first rung of a spiral. Additional blocks are added to the spiral to draw it inward until a dome is completed, leaving a ventilation hole at the top.

---

igloo, iglu

a hollow made by a seal in the snow over its breathing hole in the ice

---

igloo, iglu

A hemispherical shell, built by Eskimos of blocks of ice or packed snow as a temporary dwelling for a single family; usually about 10 to 15 feet (3 to 4.5 m) in diameter at its base, with the floor often partially below the surrounding terrain. Daylight within was provided by one or more blocks of relatively transparent freshwater ice, or by an opening covered with a piece of translucent seal intestine. Entry was usually along a domed passageway.