on ice

Prepositional phrase

1. (idiomatic) Not being used; temporarily unavailable or suspended; on hold.
   • We're putting the new software features on ice until we can fix the existing bugs.
   • Shortly after taking to the ice, the bear broke loose from its leash and went barreling, spinning, slipping, and sliding all around the rink before he was finally restrained and sedated. Needless to say, that act was put on ice.2001, Dan Diamond, James Duplacey, Eric Zweig, “The Bus Leagues—Life in the Minors”, in Hockey Stories On and Off the Ice, Kansas City, Mo.: Andrews McMeel Publishing, →ISBN, page 104
   1. (idiomatic, slang, crime fiction, chiefly preceded by "put") Dead, especially from murder or other nefarious means.
      • Boss says there's a mole in our organization. Find him and put him on ice.
2. Of an entertainment normally performed on a stage: performed by ice skaters as an ice show.
   • We went to see Cinderella on ice.
   • Celebs flocked to the House of Mouse on ice this weekend! Many celeb parents including Christina Aguilera, Armie Hammer, Mila Kunis, Jordana Brewster, Vanessa Lachey and more brought their kids and slid on over to the Staples Center in Los Angeles over the weekend to attend Disney On Ice: Follow...2017 December 17, Meg Swertlow, “Christina Aguilera, Beyoncé and More Stars Step Out with Their Kids for Disney on Ice”, in E! Online, archived from the original on 18 Dec 2017
3. Of a sporting or other contest: in a state of assured victory for the leading contestant.
   • Near-synonym: in the bag
   • [Frederick] Bohen later reflected that "when she [[Millicent] Fenwick] came out against the pardon as strongly as she did, I think that put the election on ice.2003, Amy Schapiro, “A Geriatric Triumph”, in Millicent Fenwick: Her Way, New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, →ISBN, page 143

   Synonyms:

   in the bag

4. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see on, ice.
   • Going to the wine cellar, she said: "I will put three bottles of Tokay wine on ice.[…]"1899, Moritz Loth, chapter II, in On a Higher Plane, Cincinnati, Oh.: The Monitor Company, →OCLC, page 21