- 1 [intransitive, transitive] to become hard, and often turn to ice, as a result of extreme cold; to make something do this Water freezes at 0°C. It's so cold that even the river has frozen. freeze something The cold weather had frozen the ground. + adj. The clothes froze solid on the washing line. opposite thaw Oxford Collocations Dictionary adverbsolid, over, up, … prepositioninto phrasesfreeze to death See full entry of pipe/lock/machine
- 2 [intransitive, transitive] if a pipe, lock or machine freezes, or something freezes it, it becomes blocked with frozen liquid and therefore cannot be used freeze (up) The pipes have frozen, so we've got no water. freeze something (up) Ten degrees of frost had frozen the lock on the car. Oxford Collocations Dictionary adverbsolid, over, up, … prepositioninto phrasesfreeze to death See full entry of weather
- 3 [intransitive] when it freezes, the weather is at or below 0° Celsius It may freeze tonight, so bring those plants inside. be very cold
- 4 [intransitive, transitive] to be very cold; to be so cold that you die Every time she opens the window we all freeze. Two men froze to death on the mountain. freeze somebody Two men were frozen to death on the mountain. Oxford Collocations Dictionary adverbsolid, over, up, … prepositioninto phrasesfreeze to death See full entry food
- 5 [transitive] freeze something to keep food at a very low temperature in order to preserve it Can you freeze this cake? These meals are ideal for home freezing. Oxford Collocations Dictionary adverbwell See full entry
- 6 [intransitive] to be able to be kept at a very low temperature Some fruits freeze better than others. Oxford Collocations Dictionary adverbwell See full entry stop moving
- 7 [intransitive] to stop moving suddenly because of fear, etc. I froze with terror as the door slowly opened. (figurative) The smile froze on her lips. The police officer shouted ‘Freeze!’ and the man dropped the gun. Oxford Collocations Dictionary adverbsuddenly, for a moment, for a second, … verb + freezeseem to prepositionin, with, into, … phrasesfreeze to the spot, freeze on the spot See full entry computer
- 8[intransitive] when a computer screen freezes, you cannot move any of the images, etc. on it, because there is a problem with the system See related entries: Computer problems film/movie
- 9[transitive] freeze something to stop a film/movie or video in order to look at a particular picture Freeze the action there! see also freeze-frame See related entries: Making films wages/prices
- 10[transitive] freeze something to hold wages, prices, etc. at a fixed level for a period of time synonym peg Salaries have been frozen for the current year. Oxford Collocations Dictionary adverbeffectively prepositionat See full entry money/bank account
- 11[transitive] freeze something to prevent money, a bank account, etc. from being used by getting a court order which bans it The company's assets have been frozen. See related entries: Banking Word OriginOld English frēosan (in the phrase hit frēoseth ‘it is freezing’), of Germanic origin; related to Dutch vriezen and German frieren, from an Indo-European root shared by Latin pruina ‘hoar frost’ and frost.Extra examples He was so surprised he froze to the spot. His smile froze for a moment. Hundreds of homeless people could freeze to death this winter. Maggie’s face had frozen into a cold mask. Many vegetables freeze very well. Prices have been frozen at this level for over a year now. Salaries were effectively frozen for six months. She froze with horror when she saw the body. Suddenly, Ronny seemed to freeze. The lake has frozen over. The pipes have frozen up. The pond had frozen solid. Turn up the heat—I’m freezing to death! like water freezing into iceIdioms
verb jump to other results
BrE BrE//friːz//; NAmE NAmE//friːz//
Verb Forms present simple I / you / we / they freeze BrE BrE//friːz//; NAmE NAmE//friːz//
he / she / it freezes BrE BrE//ˈfriːzɪz//; NAmE NAmE//ˈfriːzɪz//
past simple froze BrE BrE//frəʊz//; NAmE NAmE//froʊz//
past participle frozen BrE BrE//ˈfrəʊzn//; NAmE NAmE//ˈfroʊzn//
-ing form freezing BrE BrE//ˈfriːzɪŋ//; NAmE NAmE//ˈfriːzɪŋ//
Computer problems, Making films, Bankingto make you extremely frightened or shocked See related entries: Fear
to suddenly make somebody stop by frightening or surprising them; to suddenly stop because something has frightened or surprised you The question stopped Alice in her tracks. See related entries: Surprise Phrasal Verbsfreeze outfreeze over
Check pronunciation: freeze
