freeze

freeze
1 verb past tense froze past participle frozen
1 LIQUID (I, T) if a liquid freezes, or something freezes it, it becomes hard and solid because the temperature is very cold: The water at the edge of the lake froze last night. | freeze sth: The cold weather can even freeze petrol in car engines.
—compare melt (1), thaw 1 (1)
2 EARTH (I, T) if something such as earth that contains liquid freezes, or something freezes it, it becomes hard because of cold temperatures: The ground was frozen under the thin snow.
3 MACHINE/ENGINE also freeze up (I, T) if a machine, engine, pipe etc freezes, or something freezes it, the liquid inside it becomes solid with cold, so that it does not work properly: The water pipes have frozen up.
4 FOOD (I, T) to make food extremely cold so that you can preserve it for a long time, or to be able to be preserved in this way: I'm going to freeze some of these beans. | Tomatoes don't freeze well.
5 it's freezing spoken used to say that the temperature is extremely cold: It's freezing in here - can't we shut a few windows?
—see cold 1
6 FEEL COLD (I) spoken if someone freezes, they feel very cold: You'll freeze if you don't put a coat on. | freeze to death spoken (=feel extremely cold): Come inside, you must be freezing to death.
7 WAGES/PRICES (T) if a government or company freezes wages, prices etc, they do not increase them, and keep them at a particular level: Student grants were frozen at 1989 levels.
8 MONEY/PROPERTY (T) to legally prevent money in a bank from being spent, property from being sold etc: The court froze their assets.
9 STOP MOVING (I) to stop moving suddenly and stay completely still and quiet: I froze and listened; someone was in my apartment. | “Freeze! Drop your weapons!” shouted Officer Greer.
10 freeze to death to become so cold that you die
freeze sb out phrasal verb (T) to deliberately prevent someone from being involved in something, by making it difficult for them, being unkind to them etc: You've got to stop freezing me out of the decision-making. freeze over phrasal verb (I) if an area or pool of water freezes over, its surface turns into ice: We'll go skating if the lake has frozen over. 2 noun
1 (C) a fixing of wages, prices etc at a particular level: pay freezes
2 (C) a stopping of some activity
(+ on): a freeze on production
3 BrE (singular) a period of extremely cold weather
4 AmE a short period of time, especially at night, when the temperature is extremely low
—see also: deep freeze

Longman dictionary of contemporary English. 2004.

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  • Freeze — may refer to:In liquids turning to solids: *Freezing, the physical process of a liquid turning into a solid *Freeze drying, a method of rapidly removing moisture from food productsIn cessation of movement or change: *Freeze (breakdance move), the …   Wikipedia

  • freeze — (frēz) v. froze (frōz), fro·zen (frō’zən), freez·ing, freez·es v. intr. 1. a) To pass from the liquid to the solid state by loss of heat. b) To acquire a surface or coat of ice from cold: »The lak …   Word Histories

  • freeze — vt froze, fro·zen, freez·ing 1: to cause to become fixed, immovable, unavailable, or unalterable freeze interest rates 2: to immobilize (as by government regulation or the action of a financial institution) the expenditure, withdrawal, or… …   Law dictionary

  • freeze — freeze; freeze·me·ter; freeze·proof; re·freeze; un·freeze; an·ti·freeze; …   English syllables

  • freeze — [frēz] vi. froze, frozen, freezing [ME fresen < OE freosan, akin to OHG friosan (Ger frieren) < IE base * preus , to freeze, burn like cold > L pruina, hoarfrost, pruna, glowing coals] 1. to be formed into ice; be hardened or solidified… …   English World 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. [1913 Webster] 2. To cause loss of animation or life in, from lack of heat; to give the sensation of cold to; to chill.… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Freeze — steht für: eine 1988 von den Young British Artists organisierte Kunstausstellung in den Londoner Docklands, siehe Freeze (Ausstellung) ein Motiv beim Breakdance ein Zeitpunkt in einem Projekt, an dem bestimmte Beschlüsse verbindlich geworden sind …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • freeze — O.E. freosan turn to ice (class II strong verb; past tense freas, pp. froren), from P.Gmc. *freusanan (Cf. O.N. frjosa, O.H.G. friosan, Ger. frieren to freeze, Goth. frius frost ), from P.Gmc. *freus , equivalent to PIE root *preus …   Etymology dictionary

  • Freeze — Freeze, v. i. [imp. {Froze} (fr[=o]z); p. p. {Frozen} (fr[=o] z n); 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… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Freeze — [ fri:z], das; [engl. freeze, zu: to freeze = (ein)frieren, verw. mit ahd. friosan, ↑frieren]: das Einfrieren aller atomaren Rüstung …   Universal-Lexikon

  • Freeze — (fr[=e]z), n. (Arch.) A frieze. [Obs.] [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

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