What does "freeze" mean?
A period of intensely cold weather.
Freeze
/ˈfɹiːz/ name, noun, verb, slang
name, noun, verb, slang ·Very common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A period of intensely cold weather.
- Grammar: freeze is listed as name, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: halt, abide, anesthetize, anhydrate.
- Useful contrasts: animated, civil progress policies, holistic design.
- Usage evidence: Hardly had the rain stopped when the ground began to freeze.
How to use "freeze"
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- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "freeze" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "freeze" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "freeze" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "freeze" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
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- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
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Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "freeze" is acting as name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "halt" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
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Final meaning check
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When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A period of intensely cold weather.
"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."
- 2 Obsolete form of frieze. alt-of, obsolete
"[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."
- 3 fixing (of prices or wages etc.) at a particular level wordnet
- 4 A halt of a regular operation.
"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."
- 5 an interruption or temporary suspension of progress or movement wordnet
Show 5 more definitions
- 6 The state when either a single computer program, or the whole system ceases to respond to inputs.
- 7 weather cold enough to cause freezing wordnet
- 8 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.
"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)."
- 9 the withdrawal of heat to change something from a liquid to a solid wordnet
- 10 A block on pay rises or on the hiring of new employees etc.
"a hiring freeze; a pay freeze"
Verb
- 1 Especially of a liquid, to become solid due to low temperature. copulative, intransitive
"The lake froze solid."
- 2 suddenly behave coldly and formally wordnet
- 3 To lower something's temperature to the point that it freezes or becomes hard. transitive
"Don't freeze meat twice."
- 4 anesthetize by cold wordnet
- 5 To drop to a temperature below zero degrees celsius, where water turns to ice. intransitive
"It didn't freeze this winter, but last winter was very harsh."
Show 18 more definitions
- 6 be cold wordnet
- 7 To be affected by extreme cold. informal, intransitive
"It's freezing in here!"
- 8 prohibit the conversion or use of (assets) wordnet
- 9 Of a machine or system, to come to a sudden halt, to stop working (functioning). idiomatic, intransitive
"Since the last update, the program freezes after a few minutes of use."
- 10 stop a process or a habit by imposing a freeze on it wordnet
- 11 Of a person or other animal, to stop (become motionless) or be stopped due to attentiveness, fear, surprise, etc. idiomatic, intransitive
"Despite all of the rehearsals, I froze as soon as I got on stage."
- 12 change to ice wordnet
- 13 To cause someone to become motionless. transitive
"Dr Constantine sniggered and Mrs Hubbard immediately froze him with a glance."
- 14 cause to freeze wordnet
- 15 To lose or cause to lose warmth of feeling; to shut out; to ostracize. figuratively
"Over time, he froze towards her, and ceased to react to her friendly advances."
- 16 change from a liquid to a solid when cold wordnet
- 17 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."
- 18 stop moving or become immobilized wordnet
- 19 To prevent the movement or liquidation of a person's financial assets transitive
"The court froze the criminal's bank account."
- 20 be very cold, below the freezing point wordnet
- 21 Of prices, spending etc., to keep at the same level, without any increase.
"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."
- 22 To prevent from showing any visible change. ambitransitive
"Pressing the pause button will freeze the video playback."
- 23 To trap (the puck) so that it cannot be played. transitive
Proper Noun
- 1 A surname.
Antonyms
Example
"Hardly had the rain stopped when the ground began to freeze."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "freeze"?
Common synonyms include: halt, abide, anesthetize, anhydrate, appall, arrest.
How do you use "freeze" in a sentence?
Hardly had the rain stopped when the ground began to freeze.
How do you pronounce "freeze"?
Pronounced /ˈfɹiːz/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English fresen, from Old English frēosan (“to freeze”), from Proto-West Germanic *freusan, from Proto-Germanic *freusaną (“to freeze”), from Proto-Indo-European *prews- (“to freeze; frost”). Cognates Cognate with North Frisian friis, friise, früüs (“to freeze”), Saterland Frisian fjoose, frjoze (“to freeze”), West Frisian frieze (“to freeze”), Central Franconian freese (“to freeze”), Cimbrian briizan, vriizan (“to be cold”), Dutch vriezen (“to freeze”), Low German freren, fresen (“to freeze”), Luxembourgish fréieren (“to freeze”), German frieren (“to freeze”), Yiddish פֿרירן (frirn, “freeze”), Danish and Norwegian Bokmål fryse (“to freeze”), Icelandic frjósa (“to freeze”), Norwegian Nynorsk frysa, fryse (“to freeze”), Swedish frysa (“to freeze”); also Cornish rew (“frost, ice”), Irish reo (“frost”), reoigh (“to freeze”), Manx rio (“frost, ice”), Scottish Gaelic reòdh, reòth (“freeze”), Welsh rhew (“frost, ice”), Latin pruīna (“hoarfrost, rime”), Albanian prush (“embers”), Lithuanian prausti (“to give showers of rain”), Czech prskat (“to splutter, sputter”), Macedonian прска (prska, “to spray, sprinkle”), Polish pryskać, prysnąć (“to spray, sprinkle”), Russian пры́скать (prýskatʹ), пры́снуть (prýsnutʹ, “to spray, sprinkle”), Serbo-Croatian прскати, prskati (“to spray, sprinkle”), Sanskrit प्रुष्णोति (pruṣṇoti, “to moisten, shower, sprinkle, wet”), प्रुष्वा (pruṣvā, “hoarfrost, ice, rime”), Saraiki پسݨ (pussaṇ, “to become wet”).
Etymology 2
See the above verb.