freeze
verb /friːz/
/friːz/
Verb Forms
Idioms Phrasal Verbs| present simple I / you / we / they freeze | /friːz/ /friːz/ |
| he / she / it freezes | /ˈfriːzɪz/ /ˈfriːzɪz/ |
| past simple froze | /frəʊz/ /frəʊz/ |
| past participle frozen | /ˈfrəʊzn/ /ˈfrəʊzn/ |
| -ing form freezing | /ˈfriːzɪŋ/ /ˈfriːzɪŋ/ |
- [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.
- freeze + adj. The clothes froze solid on the washing line.
- freeze something + adj. The frost had frozen the ground hard.
- Last year's cold spell froze the lake solid.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb- solid
- over
- up
- …
- into
- freeze to death
- [intransitive, transitive] if a pipe, lock or machine freezes, or something freezes it, it becomes blocked with frozen liquid and therefore cannot be used
- The pipes have frozen, so we've got no water.
- freeze up I kept the car running to stop the engine freezing up.
- freeze something Ten degrees of frost had frozen the lock on the car.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb- solid
- over
- up
- …
- into
- freeze to death
- [intransitive] when it freezes, the weather is at or below 0° Celsius
- It may freeze tonight, so bring those plants inside.
- [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 Dictionaryadverb- solid
- over
- up
- …
- into
- freeze to death
- [transitive] freeze something to keep something, especially food, at a very low temperature in order to preserve it
- Can you freeze this cake?
- The organ samples were immediately frozen in liquid nitrogen.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb- well
- [intransitive] to be able to be kept at a very low temperature
- Some fruits freeze better than others.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb- well
- [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.
- Suddenly, Ronny seemed to freeze.
- He was so surprised he froze to the spot.
- Maggie's face had frozen into a cold mask.
- She froze with horror when she saw the body.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb- suddenly
- for a moment
- for a second
- …
- seem to
- in
- with
- into
- …
- freeze to the spot
- freeze on the spot
- [intransitive] when a computer screen freezes, you cannot move any of the images, etc. on it, because there is a problem with the systemTopics Computersc2
- [transitive] freeze something to stop a film or video in order to look at a particular picture
- Freeze the action there!
- [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.
- Prices have been frozen at this level for over a year now.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb- effectively
- at
- [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.
become ice
of pipe/lock/machine
of weather
be very cold
food
stop moving
computer
film/movie
wages/prices
money/bank account
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.
Idioms
freeze your blood | make your blood freeze
- to make you extremely frightened or shockedTopics Feelingsc2
freeze/stop/halt in your tracks
- to suddenly stop because something has frightened or surprised you
- Jess froze in her tracks and took a deep breath.
stop/halt somebody in their tracks | stop/halt/freeze in your tracks
- 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.
- Suddenly he stopped dead in his tracks: what was he doing?
- (figurative) The disease was stopped in its tracks by immunization programmes.