I. ˈfrēz verb
( froze ˈfrōz ; or dialect friz ˈfriz ; fro·zen ˈfrōz ə n ; or chiefly dialect froze or dialect friz ; freezing ; freezes )
Etymology: Middle English fresen, from Old English frēosan; akin to Old High German friosan to freeze, Old Norse frjōsa to freeze, Gothic frius coldness, Latin pruina hoarfrost, Sanskrit pruṣvā drop of water, ice
intransitive verb
1.
a. : to become congealed into ice by cold
fresh water freezes at 32° Fahrenheit
b. : to become hardened into a solid body by the abstraction of heat
the melting was done in an Arsem vacuum furnace and the molten metal allowed to freeze slowly — Journal of Research
2.
a. : to become chilled with cold : be very cold
the furnace went out and we froze trying to get it going again
also : to suffer loss of animation or life by lack of heat
the lost climber became exhausted and almost froze to death
b. : to become coldly formal in manner : act coldly
the hostess froze and avoided us during the party
c. : to cause loss of sensitivity in or to anesthetize a part especially by cold
some dentists prefer freezing to the administering of gas before tooth extraction
3.
a. : to remain solidly in contact or affixed by reason of freezing — used with to
the damp clothes froze to the clothesline
b. : to adhere solidly or stay immovably fixed — used with to
the brake shoe froze to the brake drum
a large nut to be removed had frozen to its bolt — G.F.Burnley
under pressure and movement, two clean metal surfaces … will weld or freeze together, often with severe consequences — C.H.Hack
c. : to grip very tightly (as from fear) — used with to
the terrified driver froze to the wheel
d.
(1) of a billiard or pool ball : to come to rest in contact with another ball or with a cushion
(2) of a curling stone : to come to rest against another stone
4.
a. : to have its liquid content freeze : become clogged with ice
in the winter the water pipes froze
so cold the car radiator froze
b. of a car : to have the radiator liquid freeze
we left the car out all night and it froze
5. : to become motionless as if suddenly frozen:
a. : to stand or remain without movement or activity of any kind
at the least sign of alarm, freeze in your tracks and don't move a muscle — Boy Scout Handbook
especially : to become incapable of acting or speaking (as from fright)
when I put a mike in front of her she'd freeze — Pete Martin
— often used with up
b. : to become fixed and unalterable
a perceptible tendency for the techniques of microprinting to freeze at present levels — H.M.Silver
c. of a mechanism or moving part : to cease to function or to resist movement by reason of jamming, locking, or damage : stick in operation
the intense heat caused too great an expansion and the piston froze in the cylinder
the speedometer froze at 90 miles an hour when the car overturned
6. : to become fixed and motionless or unalterable as if by freezing
the whole crowd had frozen into fascinated attention — Dorothy Sayers
his anger froze into fear
smiles which readers prepare for his latest effort may freeze on their faces — Laurent LeSage
transitive verb
1.
a. : to harden into ice : convert from a liquid to a solid by cold
the low temperature froze the water in the birdbath
b. : to clog with ice
the intense cold froze the water pipes
c.
(1) : to subject in storage to a temperature below freezing
freeze meat to preserve it during the summer
(2) : to subject (food packages) to intense cold and solidification into a block like ice for preservation
patrons prepared and wrapped meats at home and froze them in their lockers — Pa. State Bulletin 433
2.
a. : to make extremely cold : give a sensation of extreme cold or an all-embracing sense of coldness to : chill
the spectators at the game were frozen by the unseasonably low temperature
b. : to act toward in a stiff and formal unfriendly way : discourage or dampen the enthusiasm of by coldness of demeanor
conducted herself with hauteur and froze her neighbors
the director tended to freeze newcomers who stepped out of line
c. : to cause to act adversely : alienate
the object of this book being largely to persuade the prospective reader, and not to freeze him with assumptions of his mental inadequacy — C.D.Lewis
3.
a. : to harden, damage, kill, or have other effect upon by the action of frost
one night of frost froze the ground surface solid
found her annuals in the garden frozen and blackened in the morning after the cold night
b. : to cause loss of animation or life in from lack of heat
the winter struck early and froze several tramps sleeping in alleyways
c. : to anesthetize (a part) by or as if by cold
had the inflamed appendix frozen — Current Biography
a face nicely frozen from injections — Monica Stirling
4.
a. : to cause to adhere by or as if by the effect of intense cold
the low temperature froze the damp clothes to the line
the heat of friction froze the two metal surfaces together
b. : to cause (a billiard or pool ball) to come to rest in contact with another ball or with a cushion
c. : to cause to grip tightly or remain in immovable contact as if paralyzed
fear froze the pilot to the controls
5. : to make or cause to become fixed, immovable, inflexible, or unalterable: as
a. : to cause to stand or remain rigidly motionless
the sudden noise froze the animal in an attitude of fright
the sound of her name … froze her on the bottom step — Berton Roueché
it isn't fear-paralysis that keeps a rabbit frozen in its squat at the sound of a shot — Sydney (Australia) Bulletin
b. : to fix securely, permanently, or irremovably
premature choices tend to lead you into, and freeze you in, occupations which will be inadequately rewarding spiritually — H.M.Wriston
he had concluded that the city-manager plan would tend to freeze in office whoever won the first election — Darrell Garwood
c. : to harden into inflexibility or convert as if by hardening into a rigid unchanging form
his mind shut hard … upon his first impressions and froze them to unalterable convictions — Virginia Woolf
most social planning to date aims essentially to freeze most of the existing cultural values — A.L.Kroeber
a scholastic tendency to freeze our concepts of a writer's life — Jay Leyda
tend to freeze his message into an orthodoxy — André Martinet
d. : to fix so as to maintain unaltered in form, condition, or relationship:
(1) : to stop any further alteration in
a system of rules which freezes a social position and keeps one class or race on top of another — Philip Mason
freeze designs and go into production on current aircraft models — Newsweek
that all unresolved problems … be frozen for ten years during which concerted efforts would be made to seek permanent peaceful solutions — New York Times
freezing the status quo — A.H.Vandenberg †1951
(2) : to fix inflexibly (as by executive order) at a point or in a status governing or prevailing on a particular day
freeze the price on essential commodities
freeze wages as of the last pay period
(3) : to forbid further manufacture, use, or sale of (a raw material)
(4) : to immobilize by governmental regulation or legislation the expenditure, withdrawal, or exchange of (foreign-owned bank balances) — compare block vt 1h
(5) : to forbid (a worker) to leave or change a job
(6) : to counteract the growth, expansion, or development of
the older generation was trying to freeze the country and make it static — Hugh MacLennan
(7) : to prevent the use of (money) by tying up (as in capital stock or inventory)
the amount of additional capital frozen into the inventory of every tire or oil outlet by the new taxes — T.H.White b. 1915
another step to free frozen money — P.J.O'Brien
6.
a. : to make (as the face) expressionless
with instructions to recognize no one; and in fact he did freeze his face up when an old acquaintance hailed him — Fletcher Pratt
a look of incredulity froze his face … and his eyes went blank with surprise — Hamilton Basso
b. : to preserve rigidly a particular expression on
he still sat, his face frozen in shame and misery — Agnes S. Turnbull
7. : to make inaccessible : prevent access to or use of
police chiefs here and there are constantly freezing their records to protect someone — Quill
8.
a. : to photograph as static a single point in (fast action) or in the action of (something in fast motion)
pictures made with speedlights … freeze action completely — Bruce Downes
the camera … is capable of freezing the whirring of a moving fan blade — Science News Letter
high speed photography that freezes bullets in flight — Time
b. : to preserve in a relatively permanent and unalterable form
the tape could freeze the speech of a native and repeat it as often as desired — N.A.McQuown
9. : to attempt to keep possession of (a ball or puck) in the closing minutes of play (as in a basketball or hockey game) without an attempt to score in order to protect a small lead
they decided to play a defensive game and freeze the ball — A.J.Liebling
10. : to play a wild card on (the discard pile) in canasta and related games — compare frozen 2e
II. noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English frese, from fresen, v. — more at freeze I
1. : a state of weather marked by unusually low temperature especially when below the freezing point
the freeze … destroyed the citrus groves — American Guide Series: Florida
2. : an act or instance of freezing : the state of being frozen
3.
a. : a legislative or administrative and usually emergency action intended to restrict or forbid something (as the use or manufacture of goods needed in a war effort) or prevent alteration (as in wages, prices, job positions, or manufacturing quotas)
clamped a freeze on certain steel stocks, ordered warehouses to ship them only to defense contractors — Time
the military freeze on multiengine helicopter production — F.B.Lee
a three-and-a-half-year Federal freeze on station building — Newsweek
a freeze is the logical first technique in price control — T.B.Worsley
the 60-day temporary freeze of food prices — Business Week
b. slang : cold and unfriendly treatment
c. : a keeping possession of the ball or puck (as in basketball or hockey) with no effort at scoring often in the last minutes of play in order to prevent scoring by one's opponent
one never knows when the freeze will be needed to stave off the last-minute rally of an opponent — Athletic Journal