n.
smooth, translucent and slippery ice.
Type: 1. Origin — The term glib ice is used to refer to ice that is slippery or smooth. It likely derives from the British English term glib, which means 'smooth and slippery in surface or consistency' (see glib). The semantic narrowing of the term glib to the context of ice coincides with Canada's geographical location and weather conditions, particularly the provinces of Eastern Canada (see 1988 quotation); accordingly, the term is marked as a term used especially in Prince Edward Island (see COD-2, s.v. "glib" (2)).
The variable glib ice was included in the DPEIE's first postal survey (DPEIE 1988: xv) and the results showed that "glib ice" was selected by 83% of respondents over the alternate variants of "black ice" and "glare ice" (see DPEIE, s.v. "glib"); thus, DPEIE marks glib as "common generally, but occasional under thirty". This suggestion of diminished use among younger speakers coincides with a lack of written attestations found in current Canadian sources, as well as the term's marking as "now rare" (see OED-2, s.v. "glib" (1)) and "archaic" (see W-3, s.v. "glib" (1)).
See COD-2, s.v. "glib" (2), which is marked "Cdn (esp. PEI), ITP Nelson, s.v. "glib ice", which is defined as "glare ice" that is marked "Canadian" and DPEIE, s.v. "glib".