# freeze
## English
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈfɹiːz/
* Audio (US):(file)
* Rhymes: -iːz
* Homophones: frees, frieze

### Etymology 1

From Middle English fresen, from Old English frēosan (“to freeze”), from Proto-West Germanic *freusan, from Proto-Germanic *freusaną (“to frost, freeze”), from Proto-Indo-European *prews- (“to frost, freeze”).
Cognate with Scots frese (“to freeze”), Saterland Frisian frjoze (“to freeze”), West Frisian frieze (“to freeze”), Dutch vriezen (“to freeze”), Low German freren, freern, fresen (“to freeze”), German frieren (“to freeze”), Danish fryse (“to freeze”), Norwegian fryse, Swedish frysa (“to freeze”), Latin pruīna (“hoarfrost”), Welsh (Northern) rhew (“frost, ice”), and Sanskrit प्रुष्व (pruṣvá, “water drop, frost”).

#### Verb

freeze (third-person singular simple present freezes, present participle freezing, simple past froze, past participle frozen or (now colloquial) froze)
* (intransitive, copulative) Especially of a liquid, to become solid due to low temperature.
    The lake froze solid.
** 1855, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, The Song of Hiawatha, Book XX: The Famine,
    Ever thicker, thicker, thicker / Froze the ice on lake and river,
** 1913, Willa Cather, “O Pioneers!”, in Winter Memories, section I:He got to Dawson before the river froze, and now I suppose I won't hear any more until spring.
** 1915, Eleanor Stackhouse Atkinson, The How and Why Library: Wonders, Section II: Water,
    Running water does not freeze as easily as still water.
* (transitive) To lower something's temperature to the point that it freezes or becomes hard.
    Don't freeze meat twice.
** 1888, Elias Lönnrot, John Martin Crawford (translator, from German), The Kalevala, Rune XXX: The Frost-fiend,
    Freeze the wizard in his vessel, / Freeze to ice the wicked Ahti, ...
* (intransitive) To drop to a temperature below zero degrees celsius, where water turns to ice.
    It didn't freeze this winter, but last winter was very harsh.
* (intransitive, informal) To be affected by extreme cold.
    It's freezing in here!
    Don't go outside wearing just a t-shirt; you'll freeze!
* (intransitive) (of machines and software) To come to a sudden halt, stop working (functioning).
    Synonym: freeze up
    Since the last update, the program freezes after a few minutes of use.
* (intransitive) (of people and other animals) To stop (become motionless) or be stopped due to attentiveness, fear, surprise, etc.
    Synonym: freeze up
    Despite all of the rehearsals, I froze as soon as I got on stage.
** 1916, Edgar Rice Burroughs, chapter III, in Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar:As Tarzan rose upon the body of his kill to scream forth his hideous victory cry into the face of the moon the wind carried to his nostrils something which froze him to statuesque immobility and silence.
** 1935, Robert E. Howard, chapter IV, in Jewels of Gwahlur:They froze on their knees, their faces turned upward with a ghastly blue hue in the sudden glare of a weird light that burst blindingly up near the lofty roof and then burned with a throbbing glow.
* (transitive) To cause someone to become motionless.
** 1934, Agatha Christie, chapter 4, in Murder on the Orient Express, London: HarperCollins, published 2017, page 102:Dr Constantine sniggered and Mrs Hubbard immediately froze him with a glance.
* (figuratively) To lose or cause to lose warmth of feeling; to shut out; to ostracize.
    Over time, he froze towards her, and ceased to react to her friendly advances.
** 1898, Robert Burns, edited by John George Dow, Selections from the poems of Robert Burns, page lviii:The other side to this sunny gladness of natural love is his pity for their sufferings when their own mother's heart seems to freeze towards them.
** 1968, Ronald Victor Sampson, The Psychology of Power, page 134:His friends begin to freeze towards him, the pillars of society cut him publicly, his clients cool off, big business deals no longer come his way, he is increasingly conscious of social ostracism and the puzzled misgivings of his wife.
** 1988, Edward Holland Spicer, Kathleen M. Sands, Rosamond B. Spicer, People of Pascua, page 37:If you cheat them, they don't say anything but after that they freeze towards you.
* To cause loss of animation or life in, from lack of heat; to give the sensation of cold to; to chill.
** c. 1591–1595 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iii]:A faint, cold fear runs through my veins, / That almost freezes up the heat of life.
* (transitive) To prevent the movement or liquidation of a person's financial assets
    The court froze the criminal's bank account.
* Of prices, spending etc., to keep at the same level, without any increase.
** 2019 December 4, “Lib Dems promise fares freeze and low-emission technology”, in Rail, page 6:The headline promise in the Liberal Democrat manifesto is to freeze rail fares for commuters and season ticket holders for the duration of a Parliament.
* (ambitransitive) To prevent from showing any visible change.
    Pressing the pause button will freeze the video playback.
    Playback will freeze if you pause the video.
* (transitive, ice hockey) To trap (the puck) so that it cannot be played.

##### Synonyms

* (become solid): solidify
* (stop functioning): freeze up, grind to a halt, hang, lock up, seize, seize up
* (cause someone to become motionless): halt, immobilize; See also Thesaurus:immobilize

##### Antonyms

* (antonym(s) of “become solid”): defrost, liquify, unfreeze

##### Hyponyms

* (become solid): deep-freeze

##### Derived terms

* adfreeze
* antifreeze
* befreeze
* brain freeze
* cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey
* cryofreeze
* cryo-freeze
* deep-freeze
* deep freeze
* defreeze
* enfreeze
* flash-freeze
* freezable
* freeze-ahead
* freeze baby
* freeze brand
* freeze chest
* freeze distillation
* freeze-dried
* freeze-dry
* freeze-drying
* freeze-frame
* freeze frame
* freeze on to
* freeze onto
* freeze-out
* freezeout
* freeze out
* freeze over
* freeze peach
* freeze pop
* freezeproof
* freezer
* freeze solid
* freeze-thaw
* freeze to
* freeze-up
* freeze up
* freeze valve
* freezie
* freezing
* freezing point
* freezoree
* freezy
* hard freeze
* nonfreeze
* pay freeze
* postfreeze
* prefreeze
* quick-freeze
* refreeze
* Seattle Freeze
* snap freeze
* until the cows freeze over

##### Related terms

* frost

##### Descendants

* → Maltese: ffriża

##### Translations

    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

### Etymology 2

See the above verb.

#### Noun

freeze (plural freezes)
* A period of intensely cold weather.
** 2009, Pietra Rivoli, The Travels of a T-shirt in the Global Economy, 2nd edition, page 38:In order to work properly, the cotton stripper required that the plant be brown and brittle, as happened after a freeze, so that the cotton bolls could snap off easily.
* A halt of a regular operation.
** 1982 October, William Epstein, “The freeze: a hot issue at the United Nations”, in Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists:Without a freeze it might be possible to proceed with the production and deployment of such destabilizing systems as the MX, Trident II, cruise missiles and SS-18s, -19s and -20s.
** 1983 October 3, Ted Kennedy, speech, Truth and Tolerance in America,
    Critics may oppose the nuclear freeze for what they regard as moral reasons.
** 1985 April 27, Ronald Reagan, Presidential Radio Address:Many of our opponents in Congress are advocating a freeze in Federal spending and an increase in taxes.
* (computing) The state when either a single computer program, or the whole system ceases to respond to inputs.
    Synonym: hang
* (curling) A precise draw weight shot where a delivered stone comes to a stand-still against a stationary stone, making it nearly impossible to knock out.
** 2006, Bob Weeks, Curling for Dummies, page 143:The reason I said the guard wasn't the toughest shot in curling is because, in my book, that's a shot called the freeze. A stone thrown as a freeze comes perfectly to rest directly in front of another stone, without moving it (see Figure 10-5).
* (business, finance) A block on pay rises or on the hiring of new employees etc.
    a hiring freeze;  a pay freeze

##### Derived terms

* freeze tag
* hard freeze

##### Translations
### Etymology 3
#### Noun

freeze (plural freezes)
* Obsolete form of frieze.
** 1608, [Thomas Dekker], “Of Barnards Law”, in The Belman of London. […], London: […] [Edward Allde and Nicholas Okes] for Nathaniel Butter, →OCLC, signature F, verso:[I]f a plaine fellow well and cleanely apparelled, either in home-ſpun ruſſet or freeze (as the ſeaſon requires) with a five pouch at his girdle, happen to appeare in his ruſticall likenes: there is a Cozen ſaies one, At which word out flies the Taker, and thus giues the onſet vpon my olde Pennyfather.