Word family noun freeze freezer freezing antifreeze adjective freezing frozen verb freeze adverb freezing
From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishfreezefreeze1 /friːz/ ●●● S3 W3 verb (past tense froze /frəʊz $ froʊz/, past participle frozen /ˈfrəʊzən $ ˈfroʊ-/) 1 liquid [intransitive, transitive]COLD if a liquid or something wet freezes or is frozen, it becomes hard and solid because the temperature is very cold → melt, thaw The lake had frozen overnight.2 food [intransitive, transitive]COLD to preserve food for a long time by keeping it at a very low temperature, or to be preserved in this way I think I’ll freeze that extra meat. Tomatoes don’t freeze well.3 machine/engine [intransitive]HARD if a machine, engine, pipe etc freezes, the liquid inside it becomes solid with cold, so that it does not work properly The water pipes have frozen.4 → it freezes5 feel cold [intransitive]COLD to feel very cold I nearly froze to death watching that football match.6 wages/prices [transitive]STOP something THAT IS HAPPENING if a government or company freezes wages, prices etc, they do not increase them for a period of time The government has been forced to cut spending and freeze public-sector wages. 7 money/property [transitive]PREVENT to legally prevent money in a bank from being spent, property from being sold etc The court froze their assets.8 stop moving [intransitive]STOP MOVING to stop moving suddenly and stay completely still and quiet I froze and listened; someone was in my apartment.freeze with She froze with horror.9 film [transitive] to stop a DVD or video in order to be able to look at a particular part of it → freeze-frame He froze the picture on the screen.10 → somebody’s blood freezes → freeze somebody ↔ out → freeze over → freeze up→ See Verb tableExamples from the Corpus
freeze• An increase in state pensions, due in November, was frozen.• As soon as the music stops everyone freezes.• Run a thin stream of water to help keep the pipes from freezing.• The company has announced that it intends to freeze all salaries for a year.• You can freeze any leftover chili for another meal.• All government employees have had their salaries frozen at last year's levels.• And at this point, all of us froze, because we all knew the awful reality we were in.• The cold weather froze firefighters' hoses.• You'll freeze if you don't put a coat on.• The water in the lake used to freeze most winters, and then it was good for skating.• As the ground freezes over the winter, many species of plants on the Great Plains come loose and become tumbleweeds.• Hey! The milk's frozen solid!• You can make a big batch and freeze some of it for later.• Dole urged fellow Republicans to back his plan to freeze state spending and cut taxes.• The court issued an order freezing the company's assets temporarily.• The city may have to freeze the hiring of new police officers.• Don't freeze the rolls for longer than three weeks.froze to death• And no, the baby never froze to death.• He was locked in a chilly room as punishment for some misdemeanour and there he froze to death.• The first was June Kashpaw, who after their marriage walked into a blizzard and froze to death.• We decided to abandon fishing and head for home before I froze to death.• Whilst on their way a blizzard struck and some were trapped and froze to death.• We almost froze to death at the football game.• They probably froze to death by the millions.• One of them froze to death in 1943.• Valerian froze to death one night in winter.froze with horror• Running through the orange grove, which already had little green oranges on, past the chickens, she froze with horror.• The man sitting next to her grandmother wore the distinctive sharp-peaked cap of the Gestapo and Peach froze with horror. freezefreeze2 ●○○ noun 1 [countable]STOP something THAT IS HAPPENING a time when people are not allowed to increase prices or paya price/pay/wage freezefreeze on a freeze on pay rises2 [countable]STOP something THAT IS HAPPENING the stopping of some activity or processfreeze on The government have imposed a freeze on civil service appointments.3 DNCOLD[singular] British English a period of extremely cold weather4 [countable usually singular] American EnglishPERIOD OF TIME a short period of time, especially at night, when the temperature is extremely low → deep freezeExamples from the Corpus
freeze• The prime minister has announced a freeze on income tax for two years.• Banana plants will die back in a freeze but usually return in the spring from the rootstocks.• Other stringent measures included a freeze on tax allowances this year.• Unless a freak freeze is experienced, an unusually warm late winter-early springtime will have Augusta National in lush heavily-grassed condition.• Wait to prune in March, when the Gulf Coast area is usually out of danger of a hard freeze.• While the Cabinet has yet to make final decisions, ministers seemed set to approve a pay freeze.a price/pay/wage freeze• The 340 hourly-paid workers would not accept a wages freeze and cuts in their benefits and were sacked.• While the Cabinet has yet to make final decisions, ministers seemed set to approve a pay freeze.• Three-quarters of the workforce was sacked after failing to accept a management plan which involved a wages freeze and benefit cuts.• Around one in eight of the survey sample reported a pay freeze for the workers concerned.From Longman Business Dictionaryfreezefreeze1 /friːz/ verb (past tense froze /frəʊzfroʊz/, past participle frozen /ˈfrəʊzənˈfroʊ-/)1[transitive]COMMERCE if a government or company freezes prices, wages etc, they keep them at a particular levelThe company cut executive salaries by 10%, all remaining salaries were frozen.The president froze fuel prices and set a ceiling on prices for basic foodstuffs.2LAWBANKINGto legally prevent money in a bank from being taken out, property from being sold etc, for example because there is a disagreement concerning itA federal judge froze more than $20 million in FundAmerica bank accounts last Friday after several California investors sued Mr Edwards.3[transitive]COMMERCE to stop an activity or a proposed activity for a period of timeThe airline froze hiring and instructed employees to reduce spending.Mr Smith has frozen plans to develop the record company.4[intransitive]computing if a computer or a computer screen freezes, the image on the screen will not change because of a problem with the computerMy computer froze and I had to reboot it. → see also frozen→ See Verb tablefreezefreeze2 noun1[countable]ECONOMICS when prices, wages etc are fixed at a particular levelThey said the cable television industry was abusing its market position, and called for a mandatory price freeze in cable rates.The prime minister called for a pay freeze to help keep inflation down.2[countable] when an activity is stopped for a period of timefreeze onIf the government imposes a freeze on the roads programme, up to 20,000 jobs could be lost.In an effort to reduce overheads, they laid off a quarter of the staff and initiated a hiring freeze (=when a company does not take new employees).Origin freeze1 Old English freosan 