freeze

FREEZ/ˈfɹiːz/

Noun pluralfreezes

19 meanings of freeze

1
verbintransitive
To become solid because the temperature gets very cold.
Like water turning into a block of ice in the freezer.
The pond will freeze if the cold weather keeps up.
Water freezes faster when the air is bitterly cold.
Similarsolidify
Oppositedefrost, thaw, liquify
Note
2
verbtransitive
To make something cold enough to turn solid or hard.
Like leaving juice in the freezer until it turns into a solid block.
You can freeze the leftover soup for next week.
She froze the berries so they would last all winter.
Oppositethaw, defrost
3
verbintransitive
To suddenly stop moving because of fear, surprise, or close attention.
Like turning into a statue the moment something startles you.
I freeze whenever I hear a loud, sudden noise.
The deer froze when it saw the car's headlights.
4
verbintransitive
When a computer or program suddenly stops working and won't respond.
Like a clock that suddenly stops ticking and won't move again.
Old computers freeze when they run out of memory.
The game froze right before the final level.
Similarhang, seize
5
verbtransitive
To make someone stop moving completely.
Like a magic spell in a story that leaves a person unable to move.
Fear can freeze you on the spot.
The sudden scream froze everyone in the room.
Similarhalt, immobilize
Note
6
verbcolloquialintransitive
To feel very cold.
Like standing inside a fridge with no warm clothes on.
I freeze every time I wait at the bus stop in winter.
We froze on the walk home without our coats.
7
verbintransitive
To get cold enough outside that water turns to ice.
Like the moment the air gets cold enough to turn puddles into ice.
It might freeze tonight, so cover the young plants.
The temperature froze overnight and ruined the crops.
Oppositethaw
Note
8
nouncountable
A time of very cold weather.
Like the coldest stretch of winter when everything turns to ice.
The freeze lasted a week and pipes burst all over town.
A hard freeze is coming this weekend, so bring the pets inside.
Similarfrost
Oppositethaw
9
nouncountable
A stop to something that normally keeps going.
Like pressing pause so nothing new can happen for a while.
The factory put a freeze on all production after the safety recall.
There's a freeze on spending until next year.
Similarmoratorium, halt, suspension
Note
10
verbtransitive
To keep prices or spending at the same level so they don't go up.
Like fixing a price tag in place and not letting the number change.
The government decided to freeze rents for two years.
They froze wages during the worst of the crisis.
Similarcap, fix

11
verbtransitive
To officially stop someone from moving or spending the money and property they own.
Like putting a lock on someone's bank account so nothing can go in or out.
A judge ordered the bank to freeze the suspect's accounts.
Authorities froze the company's assets during the investigation.
Similarblock
Oppositeunfreeze
12
nouncountable
A time when a program or computer stops working and will not respond to you.
Like a clock that suddenly stops ticking and won't move no matter what you do.
The game suffered a freeze just before the boss fight.
Frequent freezes forced her to restart the laptop.
Similarhang
Note
13
nouncountable
A rule that stops pay from going up or stops new workers from being hired.
Management imposed a freeze on all new hires.
The pay freeze lasted through the recession.
Similarmoratorium
Note
14
verbfigurativelytransitive
To stop being friendly toward someone, or to leave them out on purpose.
Like turning cold toward someone you used to be close with.
After the fight, his classmates began to freeze him out.
They froze her out of the group chat for weeks.
Similarexclude, ostracize, shun
Note
15
verbtransitive or intransitive
To keep something exactly the same so it shows no change.
The editor chose to freeze the image on the last frame.
They froze the page layout so nothing would shift.
Similarlock, pause
16
verbtransitive
To make someone or something very cold, sometimes enough to harm them.
Like ice forming on a puddle on a bitterly cold night.
The cold wind nearly froze the children waiting at the bus stop.
A night this cold can freeze an unprotected traveler.
Similarchill
Oppositewarm
17
verbtransitive
To trap the puck so the other team cannot play it.
The goalie decided to freeze the puck for a faceoff.
He froze the puck against the boards to stop play.
Note
18
nouncountable
A careful curling shot that stops a stone right against another so it is very hard to move.
Her final freeze sat tight against the other stone.
A good freeze made it almost impossible to remove her stone.
Note
19
nounobsolete
Obsolete spelling of frieze. You may see this older form in very old texts.
Note

Practice

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Origin

From Old English frēosan, meaning "to freeze." It goes back to older Germanic and Indo-European roots meaning "to frost or freeze."