freezes
freezes — verb
- freezespresent simple I / you / we / they
- freezeses3rd person singular
- freezesing-ing form
- freezesedpast simple
1. when a liquid turns solid because the temperature has fallen under 0°C — or when
when a liquid turns solid because the temperature has fallen under 0°C — or when you cause a liquid to turn solid by cooling it
The pond behind Renata's house freezes solid every December.
intransitive: [liquid body] + freeze
Dario forgot his water bottle on the porch and it froze overnight.
The kitchen tap broke when the water inside the pipe froze.
Jin poured juice into moulds and froze them into ice lollies.
transitive: freeze + [liquid/food]
Milk expands as it freezes, so leave some room at the top.
- freeze solid
- freeze over
- freeze overnight
- freeze to death
Grammar Patterns
freeze + [liquid]
[liquid] + freeze
Usage Note
Subject can be any liquid (water, river, juice) and the trigger is always temperature-based. Distinguish from sense 2, where the focus is deliberately preserving food.
Common Mistakes
2. to keep food fresh for weeks or months by chilling it until it goes hard, stoppi
to keep food fresh for weeks or months by chilling it until it goes hard, stopping it from spoiling
Tendai froze the leftover stew in small containers for quick weekday lunches.
transitive: freeze + [food]
Anjali always freezes fresh herbs in olive oil inside an ice-cube tray.
The supermarket freezes bread just before it goes stale and sells it cheap.
You can freeze ripe bananas with the peel still on for baking later.
Cooked rice freezes well and only takes two minutes in the microwave.
intransitive-like passive: [food] + freeze + well
- freeze leftovers
- freeze well
- freeze fresh
- suitable for freezing
- deep-freeze
implies a very low temperature, often in industrial or bulk contexts
- chill
less extreme; food is cold but not hard, and it won't last as long
- defrost
the deliberate act of bringing frozen food back to a soft state, often before cooking
Grammar Patterns
freeze + [food]
Usage Note
Object is always food or a food ingredient. Unlike sense 1, the purpose here is preservation, not just a physical change of state.
Common Mistakes
3. when a motor, lock, or mechanical part stops working because something inside ha
when a motor, lock, or mechanical part stops working because something inside has seized up, preventing any movement
The car engine froze halfway up the mountain road in sub-zero weather.
intransitive: [engine] + freeze
Faisal tried to open the rusty gate but the lock had frozen shut.
The bicycle chain froze after sitting outside through three weeks of rain.
The factory shut down when the main conveyor belt froze without warning.
subject can be non-ice-related: [mechanism] + freeze
Her computer screen froze in the middle of an important video call.
extended use: [screen/computer] + freeze
- engine freezes
- lock freezes
- screen freezes
- freeze up
Grammar Patterns
[mechanism] + freeze
Usage Note
Subject is always a mechanical or electronic device. This sense often implies the freeze was sudden and the machine cannot be used until it is fixed or restarted. Distinguish from sense 4, where a living creature stops moving by choice or instinct.
Common Mistakes
4. when someone or a creature suddenly halts all movement and remains motionless —
when someone or a creature suddenly halts all movement and remains motionless — typically from fear, surprise, or shock
Eliska froze when she heard footsteps coming up the dark stairwell.
intransitive: [person] + freeze + when-clause
The rabbit froze at the edge of the field as the hawk circled above.
Brooke froze in the doorway the moment she saw the broken window.
Darius froze with one hand on the door handle, listening for any sound.
Every child in the room froze when the head teacher walked in unannounced.
subject can be a group: [people] + freeze
- freeze in fear
- freeze on the spot
- freeze mid-step
- freeze at the sound of
- bolt
to run away suddenly from fear — the opposite reaction to freezing
Grammar Patterns
[person/animal] + freeze
Usage Note
Often followed by a phrase starting with 'when', 'as', or 'at' that gives the cause. The stillness is usually temporary and the person or animal can move again moments later.
Common Mistakes
5. during an ice hockey game, to trap the puck against the boards, the ice, or your
during an ice hockey game, to trap the puck against the boards, the ice, or your body — goaltenders often use their glove hand — causing the referee to blow the whistle and halt play
The goaltender froze the puck against his pad to force a stoppage.
transitive: freeze + the puck (goaltender action)
With ten seconds left, Felix froze the puck along the boards to waste time.
The referee blew the whistle as soon as the goalie froze the puck.
Beatrix froze the puck behind the net and waited for her teammates to regroup.
freeze + the puck + location phrase
- freeze the puck
- cover
informal hockey term for the goaltender smothering the puck
Grammar Patterns
freeze + the puck
Usage Note
Specific to ice hockey. Object is almost always 'the puck'. When a goaltender freezes the puck, the referee stops play for a face-off. Field hockey and other sports do not use this term.
6. to officially stop prices, wages, or rates from rising by setting them at a fixe
to officially stop prices, wages, or rates from rising by setting them at a fixed level, usually as a government or company policy
The council voted to freeze bus fares for the next two years.
transitive: freeze + [prices/fares/rates]
Asher's company froze all salaries during the first year of the downturn.
The government promised to freeze income tax rates until after the election.
Student tuition fees have been frozen at the same amount since 2019.
passive: [fees/prices] + be frozen
The landlord agreed to freeze the rent if they signed a longer lease.
- freeze prices
- freeze wages
- freeze rates
- freeze spending
- pay freeze
Grammar Patterns
freeze + [prices/wages/rates]
Usage Note
Subject is usually an authority figure (government, company, landlord). Object is something that would normally increase over time. Frequently used in the passive: 'were frozen'. Distinguish from sense 7, where the freeze is a legal block on using assets rather than a limit on increases.
Common Mistakes
7. to block — through a court ruling or official order — any attempt to move, spend
to block — through a court ruling or official order — any attempt to move, spend, or sell money, accounts, or other assets, usually while an investigation or legal case is ongoing
The court froze all of the company's bank accounts during the fraud investigation.
transitive: freeze + [bank accounts/assets]
Ezra's overseas assets were frozen under the new sanctions regime.
The regulator moved to freeze the hedge fund's trading licence immediately.
A judge froze the inheritance money until the family dispute was settled.
Several governments agreed to freeze the arms dealer's financial holdings worldwide.
freeze + [holdings] — used in international sanctions context
- freeze assets
- freeze accounts
- bank accounts frozen
- court freezes
Grammar Patterns
freeze + [assets/accounts/funds]
Usage Note
Almost always used in formal, legal, or political contexts. The subject is typically a court, government, or regulatory body. The passive form ('assets were frozen') is extremely common.
Common Mistakes
freezes — noun
- freezessingular
- freezesesplural
1. a spell of weather during which temperatures remain under 0°C, usually leading t
a spell of weather during which temperatures remain under 0°C, usually leading to ice forming on roads, plants, and standing water
A sudden freeze in early April killed most of the cherry blossoms.
collocation: a sudden freeze
The farmers rushed to harvest the oranges before the big freeze arrived.
The deep freeze lasted nearly three weeks and several water mains burst.
collocation: a deep freeze
Jin wrapped every outdoor pipe after the forecast warned of a hard freeze.
The first freeze of winter came earlier than anyone in the village expected.
collocation: the first freeze (of winter)
- a big freeze
- a deep freeze
- a hard freeze
- a sudden freeze
- the first freeze
- heatwave
a period of unusually hot weather
Usage Note
Often used with adjectives like 'big', 'deep', 'hard', or 'sudden' to describe severity. In everyday speech, people may say 'cold snap' or 'frost' instead.
Common Mistakes
2. an official decision to stop something temporarily or to prevent it from increas
an official decision to stop something temporarily or to prevent it from increasing further — used especially about prices, wages, hiring, or government spending
The university announced a freeze on all new hiring until the budget improved.
collocation: a freeze on [activity]
The pay freeze meant that no employee received a rise for three years.
compound: pay freeze / wage freeze
A spending freeze was put in place across every government department.
The rent freeze protected thousands of families from sudden cost increases.
After two years of cuts, the council finally lifted the freeze on library funding.
lift a freeze — common collocation
- a freeze on
- pay freeze
- wage freeze
- hiring freeze
- spending freeze
- lift a freeze
- impose a freeze
- moratorium
more formal and legal; often used for a ban on a specific activity like testing or drilling
- suspension
broader term; can apply to people (suspension from school) as well as activities
- halt
more abrupt and often shorter in duration than a freeze
Usage Note
Almost always followed by 'on' + the thing being stopped. Common compounds include 'pay freeze', 'wage freeze', 'hiring freeze', and 'spending freeze'. Distinguish from sense 1, which is about weather, and sense 3, which is a physical process.
Common Mistakes
3. the process by which a liquid turns into a solid as its temperature drops below
the process by which a liquid turns into a solid as its temperature drops below 0°C, or the moment when this change happens
The freeze happens quickly if you spread the mixture in a thin layer.
the freeze = the moment of liquid-to-solid change
Adding salt to the road surface lowers the temperature at which the freeze begins.
Repeated freeze and thaw cycles cause cracks to form in concrete over time.
collocation: freeze and thaw cycles
The slow freeze of the river gave the villagers time to move their boats ashore.
- the freeze begins
- freeze and thaw
- freeze-thaw cycle
- slow freeze
- rapid freeze
- freezing
the gerund form; more common in everyday speech than the noun 'freeze' for this sense
- solidification
technical term used in physics and chemistry
- thaw
the process of returning from solid to liquid, especially of ice and snow
Usage Note
This sense describes the physical event or process rather than a weather period. Common in scientific and technical contexts. Often paired with 'thaw' in the phrase 'freeze-thaw cycles'.
Word family
Synonym discussion
Sense: verb/4
All four words describe a sudden loss of movement, but they differ in intensity and cause. 'Freeze' is the most everyday choice — it describes the instinctive moment of going still from fear or shock, like a deer caught in headlights, and the person recovers quickly. 'Petrify' is much stronger: it means being so terrified you turn rigid, as if turned to stone, and is often used figuratively ('petrified with fear') rather than for literal physical freezing. 'Stiffen' suggests a visible tightening of the body — someone might stiffen when they hear bad news or feel insulted — but it doesn't necessarily mean they stop moving entirely. 'Paralyse' is the most extreme: it implies a complete and often lasting inability to move, whether from terror ('paralysed by fear') or medical causes. Example: 'Eliska froze when the door creaked open, but after a moment she crept forward.' versus 'The hiker was paralysed by fear at the edge of the cliff and had to be helped down.'
Common collocations
Etymology
The word 'freeze' comes from the Old English 'frēosan', which meant 'to turn to ice' and was already used figuratively to describe being very cold. This root is shared across Germanic languages: Old High German 'friosan', Old Norse 'frjōsa', and Gothic 'frius'. All trace back to a Proto-Germanic verb '*freusaną' and further to the Proto-Indo-European root '*prews-' meaning 'to burn' or 'to freeze' — an interesting double meaning that may reflect the similar stinging sensation of extreme cold and fire. The figurative senses — stopping movement, fixing prices, blocking assets — all developed much later, from the 18th century onwards, extending the core idea of 'making something solid and immovable' into social, economic, and legal domains.
First known use
12th century
12th century, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1a Noun