FREEZE (froze, frozen)

Pronunciation (US):

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does freeze mean? 

• FREEZE (noun)
  The noun FREEZE has 4 senses:

1. the withdrawal of heat to change something from a liquid to a solid

2. weather cold enough to cause freezing

3. an interruption or temporary suspension of progress or movement

4. fixing (of prices or wages etc) at a particular level

  Familiarity information: FREEZE used as a noun is uncommon.

• FREEZE (verb)
  The verb FREEZE has 10 senses:

1. stop moving or become immobilized

2. change to ice

3. be cold

4. cause to freeze

5. stop a process or a habit by imposing a freeze on it

6. be very cold, below the freezing point

7. change from a liquid to a solid when cold

8. prohibit the conversion or use of (assets)

9. anesthetize by cold

10. suddenly behave coldly and formally

  Familiarity information: FREEZE used as a verb is familiar.

 Dictionary entry details 

• FREEZE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The withdrawal of heat to change something from a liquid to a solid

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural processes

Synonyms:

freeze; freezing

Hypernyms ("freeze" is a kind of...):

chilling; cooling; temperature reduction (the process of becoming cooler; a falling temperature)

phase change; phase transition; physical change; state change (a change from one state (solid or liquid or gas) to another without a change in chemical composition)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "freeze"):

freeze-drying; lyophilisation; lyophilization (a method of drying food or blood plasma or pharmaceuticals or tissue without destroying their physical structure; material is frozen and then warmed in a vacuum so that the ice sublimes)

frost; icing (the formation of frost or ice on a surface)

Derivation:

freeze (change to ice)

freeze (cause to freeze)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Weather cold enough to cause freezing

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural phenomena

Synonyms:

freeze; frost

Hypernyms ("freeze" is a kind of...):

cold weather (a period of unusually cold weather)

Derivation:

freeze (be cold)

freeze (be very cold, below the freezing point)

Sense 3

Meaning:

An interruption or temporary suspension of progress or movement

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

freeze; halt

Context example:

a nuclear freeze

Hypernyms ("freeze" is a kind of...):

pause (temporary inactivity)

Derivation:

freeze (stop a process or a habit by imposing a freeze on it)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Fixing (of prices or wages etc) at a particular level

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Context example:

a freeze on hiring

Hypernyms ("freeze" is a kind of...):

limitation; restriction (an act of limiting or restricting (as by regulation))

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "freeze"):

hiring freeze (a freeze on hiring)

price freeze (a freeze of prices at a given level)

wage freeze (a freeze of wages at a given level)

Derivation:

freeze (prohibit the conversion or use of (assets))

• FREEZE (verb)

Conjugation:

Sense 1

Meaning:

Stop moving or become immobilized

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

freeze; stop dead

Context example:

When he saw the police car he froze

Hypernyms (to "freeze" is one way to...):

stand still (remain in place; hold still; remain fixed or immobile)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "freeze"):

fixate; settle on (become fixed (on))

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Sense 2

Meaning:

Change to ice

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Context example:

The water in the bowl froze

Hypernyms (to "freeze" is one way to...):

change state; turn (undergo a transformation or a change of position or action)

"Freeze" entails doing...:

solidify (become solid)

Verb group:

freeze; freeze down; freeze out (change from a liquid to a solid when cold)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "freeze"):

glaciate (become frozen and covered with glaciers)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Sentence example:

The water freezes

Antonym:

boil (come to the boiling point and change from a liquid to vapor)

Derivation:

freeze; freezing (the withdrawal of heat to change something from a liquid to a solid)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Be cold

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Context example:

I could freeze to death in this office when the air conditioning is turned on

Hypernyms (to "freeze" is one way to...):

suffer (feel unwell or uncomfortable)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody's (body part) ----s

Derivation:

freeze (weather cold enough to cause freezing)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Cause to freeze

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Context example:

Freeze the leftover food

Hypernyms (to "freeze" is one way to...):

alter; change; modify (cause to change; make different; cause a transformation)

Cause:

freeze (change to ice)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "freeze"):

deep freeze (store in a deep-freeze, as for conservation)

ice (cause to become ice or icy)

flash-freeze; quick-freeze (freeze rapidly so as to preserve the natural juices and flavors)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Sentence example:

The chefs freeze the vegetables

Derivation:

freeze (the withdrawal of heat to change something from a liquid to a solid)

freezer (electric refrigerator (trade name Deepfreeze) in which food is frozen and stored for long periods of time)

freezing (the withdrawal of heat to change something from a liquid to a solid)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Stop a process or a habit by imposing a freeze on it

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

freeze; suspend

Context example:

Suspend the aid to the war-torn country

Hypernyms (to "freeze" is one way to...):

break; interrupt (terminate)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

freeze (an interruption or temporary suspension of progress or movement)

Sense 6

Meaning:

Be very cold, below the freezing point

Classified under:

Verbs of raining, snowing, thawing, thundering

Context example:

It is freezing in Kalamazoo

Sentence frame:

It is ----ing

Sentence example:

It was freezeing all day long

Derivation:

freeze (weather cold enough to cause freezing)

freezing (the withdrawal of heat to change something from a liquid to a solid)

Sense 7

Meaning:

Change from a liquid to a solid when cold

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

freeze; freeze down; freeze out

Context example:

Water freezes at 32 degrees Fahrenheit

Hypernyms (to "freeze" is one way to...):

solidify (become solid)

Verb group:

freeze (change to ice)

Domain category:

natural philosophy; physics (the science of matter and energy and their interactions)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

freezing (the withdrawal of heat to change something from a liquid to a solid)

Sense 8

Meaning:

Prohibit the conversion or use of (assets)

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

block; freeze; immobilise; immobilize

Context example:

Freeze the assets of this hostile government

Hypernyms (to "freeze" is one way to...):

keep back; withhold (hold back; refuse to hand over or share)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sentence example:

They freeze the money

Antonym:

unfreeze (make (assets) available)

Derivation:

freeze (fixing (of prices or wages etc) at a particular level)

Sense 9

Meaning:

Anesthetize by cold

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Hypernyms (to "freeze" is one way to...):

anaesthetise; anaesthetize; anesthetise; anesthetize; put out; put under (administer an anesthetic drug to)

Domain category:

operation; surgery; surgical operation; surgical procedure; surgical process (a medical procedure involving an incision with instruments; performed to repair damage or arrest disease in a living body)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

Sense 10

Meaning:

Suddenly behave coldly and formally

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Context example:

She froze when she saw her ex-husband

Hypernyms (to "freeze" is one way to...):

act; behave; do (behave in a certain manner; show a certain behavior; conduct or comport oneself)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

 Context examples 

"It's freezing cold outside," she answered.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

In another day or two perhaps; this extreme mildness can hardly last longer—nay, perhaps it may freeze tonight!

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

Liquid nitrogen or liquid carbon dioxide is used to freeze the tissue.

(Cryosurgery, NCI Dictionary)

Matthewson insisted that the phrase included breaking the runners from the frozen grip of the snow.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

A container used to ship products frozen in liquid nitrogen.

(Dry Shipper, NCI Thesaurus)

The process of freezing one or more embryos to save them for future use.

(Embryo cryopreservation, NCI Dictionary)

An instrument designed to cut frozen tissue specimens on the order of micron-scale thickness, generally for the purposes of histolgical evaluation.

(Cryostat, NCI Thesaurus)

So if Mimas' core is oblong in shape, it likely represents a record of the moon's formation, frozen in time.

(Saturn Moon May Hide a 'Fossil' Core or an Ocean, NASA)

Belagenpumatucel-L is prepared by transfecting allogeneic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cells with a plasmid containing a TGF-beta2 antisense transgene, expanding the cells, and then irradiating and freezing them.

(Belagenpumatucel-L, NCI Thesaurus)

No sunlight means no power, so there was real risk we might freeze to death.

(NASA's Juno Navigators Enable Jupiter Cyclone Discovery, NASA)