Word.ws English Dictionary

Chicago brick

Chicago brick noun: an ice cream variety, popular in Chicago and the American Midwest in the late 19th and early 20th century, consisting of a layer of orange sherbet or ice cream, a layer of vanilla ice cream, and a layer of caramel (or sometimes coffee, chocolate, or maple) ice cream.

Noun

Chicago brick (uncountable)

  1. An ice cream variety, popular in Chicago and the American Midwest in the late 19th and early 20th century, consisting of a layer of orange sherbet or ice cream, a layer of vanilla ice cream, and a layer of caramel (or sometimes coffee, chocolate, or maple) ice cream.
    • John Cunningham, Chicago, Ill., […] told of the experience he had had with a Neapolitan combination known as Chicago brick, to which his public had been educated and for which a large demand had been created. Owing to the fact that the combination contained a layer of ice it was necessary to...1919, Ice Cream Trade Journal, volume 15, page 33
    • When ice cream is molded into bricks, several flavors may be placed in layers to form one brick. Spumone, an Italian ice cream which is considered a great delicacy, is made of two different flavors of ice cream and of whipped cream. The first layer of ice cream is chocolate-flavored. The next is...1953, John Morris Jones, The World Book Encyclopedia, page 3622
  2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see Chicago, brick.
    • The common brick tested comprised unused new Chicago brick, and used St. Louis brick. Fifty per cent of the new bricks were split, […]1909, Southwest Contractor and Manufacturer, volume 3 page 13

Examples of Chicago brick in a sentence

  • After the resumption of peace conditions a driver reported requests for Chicago brick and a batch was made up. […]1919, Ice Cream Trade Journal, volume 15, page 33
  • Chicago brick and Neapolitan are also well-known layer ice creams.1953, John Morris Jones, The World Book Encyclopedia, page 3622
  • Shortly after, there was the time I'd ventured out and found an ice cream parlor selling their decadent wares. […] Chicago Brick was my delight of choice.2018, A. Renež Olesiewicz, The Wonderer: A Darby, Baird & Co. Novel, page 142

Origin of Chicago brick

Uncertain, but perhaps from being a variety of ice cream popular in and associated with Chicago in which multiple flavors were compressed into one brick; the result also resembles a color of building brick which was common in Chicago at the time.

Questions about Chicago brick

What does Chicago brick mean?
Chicago brick means an ice cream variety, popular in Chicago and the American Midwest in the late 19th and early 20th century, consisting of a layer of orange sherbet or ice cream, a layer of vanilla ice cream, and a layer of caramel (or sometimes coffee, chocolate, or maple) ice cream.
How do you use Chicago brick in a sentence?
After the resumption of peace conditions a driver reported requests for Chicago brick and a batch was made up. […]
What part of speech is Chicago brick?
Chicago brick is a noun.

Words near Chicago brick in the dictionary

  1. Chicago atomizer
  2. Chicago atomizers
  3. Chicago blues
  4. Chicago Boy
  5. Chicago Boys
  6. Chicago brick
  7. Chicago dog
  8. Chicago dogs
  9. Chicago Heights
  10. Chicago lightning
  11. Chicago overcoat

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: Chicago brick (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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