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Freeze definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

FREEZE, v.i. pret. froze; pp. frozen, or froze. [Gr. had for its radical letters.]
1. To be congealed by cold; to be changed from a liquid to a solid state by the abstraction of heat; to be hardened into ice or a like solid body. Water freezes at the temperature of 32 degrees above zero by Fahrenheit's thermometer. Mercury freezes at 40 degrees below zero.
2. To be of that degree of cold at which water congeals.
3. To chill; to stagnate, or to retire from the extreme vessels; as, the blood freezes in the veins.
4. To be chilled; to shiver with cold.
5. To die by means of cold. We say a man freezes to death.
FREEZE, v.t.
1. To congeal; to harden into ice; to change from a fluid to a solid form by cold or abstraction of heat. This weather will freeze the rivers and lakes.
2. To kill by cold; but we often add the words to death. this air will freeze you, or freeze you to death.
3. To chill; to give the sensation of cold and shivering. This horrid tale freezes my blood.
FREEZE, in architecture. [See Frieze.]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: the withdrawal of heat to change something from a liquid to a solid [syn: freeze, freezing]
2: weather cold enough to cause freezing [syn: freeze, frost]
3: an interruption or temporary suspension of progress or movement; "a halt in the arms race"; "a nuclear freeze" [syn: freeze, halt]
4: fixing (of prices or wages etc) at a particular level; "a freeze on hiring" v
1: stop moving or become immobilized; "When he saw the police car he froze" [syn: freeze, stop dead]
2: change to ice; "The water in the bowl froze" [ant: boil]
3: be cold; "I could freeze to death in this office when the air conditioning is turned on"
4: cause to freeze; "Freeze the leftover food"
5: stop a process or a habit by imposing a freeze on it; "Suspend the aid to the war-torn country" [syn: freeze, suspend]
6: be very cold, below the freezing point; "It is freezing in Kalamazoo"
7: change from a liquid to a solid when cold; "Water freezes at 32 degrees Fahrenheit" [syn: freeze, freeze out, freeze down]
8: prohibit the conversion or use of (assets); "Blocked funds"; "Freeze the assets of this hostile government" [syn: freeze, block, immobilize, immobilise] [ant: free, release, unblock, unfreeze]
9: anesthetize by cold
10: suddenly behave coldly and formally; "She froze when she saw her ex-husband"

Merriam Webster's

I. verb (froze; frozen; freezing) Etymology: Middle English fresen, from Old English fr?osan; akin to Old High German friosan to freeze, Latin pruina hoarfrost, Old English frost frost Date: before 12th century intransitive verb 1. a. to become congealed into ice by cold b. to solidify as a result of abstraction of heat c. to withstand freezing <the bread freezes well> 2. to become chilled with cold <almost froze to death> 3. to adhere solidly by or as if by freezing <pressure caused the metals to freeze> 4. to become fixed or motionless; especially to become incapable of acting or speaking 5. to become clogged with ice <the water pipes froze> transitive verb 1. a. to harden into ice b. to convert from a liquid to a solid by cold 2. to make extremely cold ; chill 3. a. to act on usually destructively by frost b. to anesthetize by cold 4. to cause to grip tightly or remain in immovable contact 5. a. to cause to become fixed, immovable, unavailable, or unalterable <freeze interest rates> b. to immobilize by governmental regulation the expenditure, withdrawal, or exchange of <freeze foreign assets> c. to render motionless <a fake froze the defender> 6. to attempt to retain continuous possession of (a ball or puck) without an attempt to score usually in order to protect a small lead • freezingly adverb II. noun Date: 15th century 1. a. an act or instance of freezing b. the state of being frozen 2. a state of weather marked by low temperature especially when below the freezing point 3. a halt in the production, testing, and deployment of military weapons <a nuclear freeze>

NOAA Weather Glossary

Occurs when the surface air temperature is expected to be 32 degrees Fahrenheit or below over a widespread area for a significant period of time.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v. & n. --v. (past froze; past part. frozen) 1 tr. & intr. a turn or be turned into ice or another solid by cold. b (often foll. by over, up) make or become rigid or solid as a result of the cold. 2 intr. be or feel very cold. 3 tr. & intr. cover or become covered with ice. 4 intr. (foll. by to, together) adhere or be fastened by frost (the curtains froze to the window). 5 tr. preserve (food) by refrigeration below freezing-point. 6 tr. & intr. a make or become motionless or powerless through fear, surprise, etc. b react or cause to react with sudden aloofness or detachment. 7 tr. stiffen or harden, injure or kill, by chilling (frozen to death). 8 tr. make (credits, assets, etc.) temporarily or permanently unrealizable. 9 tr. fix or stabilize (prices, wages, etc.) at a certain level. 10 tr. arrest (an action) at a certain stage of development. 11 tr. arrest (a movement in a film) by repeating a frame or stopping the film at a frame. --n. 1 a state of frost; a period or the coming of frost or very cold weather. 2 the fixing or stabilization of prices, wages, etc. 3 a film-shot in which movement is arrested by the repetition of a frame. Phrases and idioms: freeze-dry (-dries, -dried) freeze and dry by the sublimation of ice in a high vacuum. freeze-frame = sense 3 of n. freeze on to colloq. take or keep tight hold of. freeze out US colloq. exclude from business, society, etc. by competition or boycott etc. freeze up obstruct or be obstructed by the formation of ice. freeze-up n. a period or conditions of extreme cold. freezing-mixture salt and snow or some other mixture used to freeze liquids. freezing-point the temperature at which a liquid, esp. water, freezes. freezing works Austral. & NZ a place where animals are slaughtered and carcasses frozen for export. frozen mitt colloq. a cool reception. Derivatives: freezable adj. frozenly adv. Etymology: OE freosan f. Gmc

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Freeze Freeze, v. t. To freeze out, to drive out or exclude by cold or by cold treatment; to force to withdraw; as, to be frozen out of one's room in winter; to freeze out a competitor. [Colloq.] A railroad which had a London connection must not be allowed to freeze out one that had no such connection. --A. T. Hadley. It is sometimes a long time before a player who is frozen out can get into a game again. --R. F. Foster. Freiherr Frei"herr`, n.; pl. Freiherrn. [G., lit., free lord.] In Germany and Austria, a baron.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Freeze Freeze, v. t. 1. To congeal; to harden into ice; to convert from a fluid to a solid form by cold, or abstraction of heat. 2. To cause loss of animation or life in, from lack of heat; to give the sensation of cold to; to chill. A faint, cold fear runs through my veins, That almost freezes up the heat of life. --Shak.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Freeze Freeze, n. The act of congealing, or the state of being congealed. [Colloq.]

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Freeze Freeze, n. (Arch.) A frieze. [Obs.]

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Freeze Freeze, v. i. [imp. Froze; p. p. Frozen; p. pr. & vb. n. Freezing.] [OE. fresen, freosen, AS. fre['o]san; akin to D. vriezen, OHG. iosan, G. frieren, Icel. frjsa, Sw. frysa, Dan. fryse, Goth. frius cold, frost, and prob. to L. prurire to itch, E. prurient, cf. L. prna a burning coal, pruina hoarfrost, Skr. prushv[=a] ice, prush to spirt. ? 18. Cf. Frost.] 1. To become congealed by cold; to be changed from a liquid to a solid state by the abstraction of heat; to be hardened into ice or a like solid body. Note: Water freezes at 32[deg] above zero by Fahrenheit's thermometer; mercury freezes at 40[deg] below zero. 2. To become chilled with cold, or as with cold; to suffer loss of animation or life by lack of heat; as, the blood freezes in the veins. To freeze up (Fig.), to become formal and cold in demeanor. [Colloq.]

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(freezes, freezing, froze, frozen) Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English. 1. If a liquid or a substance containing a liquid freezes, or if something freezes it, it becomes solid because of low temperatures. If the temperature drops below 0°C, water freezes... The ground froze solid. ...the discovery of how to freeze water at higher temperatures. ...frozen puddles. VERB: V, V adj, V n, V-ed, also V n adj 2. If you freeze something such as food, you preserve it by storing it at a temperature below freezing point. You can also talk about how well food freezes. You can freeze the soup at this stage... Most fresh herbs will freeze successfully. VERB: V n, V adv 3. When it freezes outside, the temperature falls below freezing point. What if it rained and then froze all through those months? VERB: it V • Freeze is also a noun. The trees were damaged by a freeze in December. N-COUNT 4. If you freeze, you feel extremely cold. The windows didn't fit at the bottom so for a while we froze even in the middle of summer... VERB: V 5. If someone who is moving freezes, they suddenly stop and become completely still and quiet. (WRITTEN) She froze when the beam of the flashlight struck her. VERB: V 6. If the government or a company freeze things such as prices or wages, they state officially that they will not allow them to increase for a fixed period of time. (BUSINESS) They want the government to freeze prices... VERB: V n • Freeze is also a noun. A wage freeze was imposed on all staff earlier this month. N-COUNT: with supp 7. If a government freezes a plan or process, they state officially that they will not allow it to continue for a period of time. Britain has already frozen its aid programme... Diplomatic relations were frozen until August this year. VERB: V n, V n • Freeze is also a noun. ...a freeze in nuclear weapons programs. N-COUNT: with supp 8. If someone in authority freezes something such as a bank account, fund, or property, they obtain a legal order which states that it cannot be used or sold for a particular period of time. (BUSINESS) The governor's action freezes 300,000 accounts... Under these laws, he said, Mr. Rice's assets could have been frozen. VERB: V n, V n • Freeze is also a noun. ...a freeze on private savings. N-COUNT: with supp 9. see also freezing, frozen

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. v. n. 1. Be congealed, be frozen. 2. Be chilled. II. v. a. 1. Congeal, solidify by cold, turn to ice. 2. Chill, benumb.

1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue

A thin, small, hard cider, much used by vintners and coopers in parting their wines, to lower the price of them, and to advance their gain. A freezing vintner; a vintner who balderdashes his wine.

Moby Thesaurus

KO, abide, anesthetize, anhydrate, appall, arrest, awe, balance, ballast, ban, be cold, be still, bedaze, benumb, besot, bite, bitter weather, blast, blast-freeze, bleak weather, blight, block, blunt, brake, brine, bring to, bring up short, change color, chatter, check, checkmate, chill, chloroform, coast, cold snap, cold wave, cold weather, coldcock, congeal, corn, counterbalance, cure, cut, cut short, dam, deaden, deadlock, debar, dehydrate, depth of winter, desensitize, desiccate, didder, dither, dope, draw rein, drive away, drive out, drug, dry, dry-cure, dry-salt, dull, eject, embalm, eternalize, eternize, etherize, evaporate, exclude, expel, firm, firm up, fix, force out, freeze out, freeze solid, freeze to death, freeze-dry, freezing weather, frost, frostbite, fume, funk, glaciate, glacify, go through, grow cold, grow pale, halt, hard winter, harden, have a chill, have goose pimples, hold, horrify, horripilate, ice, ice over, ice up, immobilization, immobilize, immortalize, irradiate, jerk, kayo, keep, keep alive, keep fresh, keep quiet, kipper, knock out, knock senseless, knock stiff, knock unconscious, lay out, lie still, lose courage, lose heat, marinade, marinate, mark time, monumentalize, mummify, nail down, narcotize, nip, not breathe, not stir, numb, obtund, ostracize, pale, palsy, paralyze, peg, penetrate, perennialize, perish with cold, perpetuate, petrify, pickle, pierce, pin, pin down, preservatize, preserve, preserve from oblivion, pull up, put paid to, put to sleep, quake, quick-freeze, quiver, raw weather, refreeze, refrigerate, regelate, reject, remain, remain motionless, repose, rest, retain, salt, scare stiff, scare to death, season, set, shake, shiver, shock, shudder, smoke, smoke-cure, snap, solidify, stabilitate, stabilize, stalemate, stall, stand, stand fast, stand firm, stand still, stay, stay put, steady, stem, stem the tide, stick, stick fast, stiffen, stop, stop cold, stop dead, stop short, strike dumb, strike terror into, stuff, stun, stupefy, subzero weather, take alarm, take fright, tarry, terrify, transfix, tread water, tremble, turn color, turn pale, winter, wintry weather, wintry wind, zero weather