freeze

== English == === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /ˈfɹiːz/ Rhymes: -iːz Homophones: frees, frieze === Etymology 1 === From Middle English fresen, from Old English frēosan (“to freeze”), from Proto-West Germanic *freusan, from Proto-Germanic *freusaną (“to freeze”), from Proto-Indo-European *prews- (“to freeze; frost”). ==== Verb ==== freeze (third-person singular simple present freezes, present participle freezing, simple past froze or (archaic) frore, past participle frozen or (now colloquial) froze or (archaic) frore) (intransitive, copulative) Especially of a liquid, to become solid due to low temperature. Synonym: solidify Antonyms: defrost, liquify, unfreeze Hyponym: deep-freeze 1855, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, The Song of Hiawatha, Book XX: The Famine, Ever thicker, thicker, thicker / Froze the ice on lake and river, 1915, Eleanor Stackhouse Atkinson, The How and Why Library: Wonders, Section II: Water, Running water does not freeze as easily as still water. (transitive) To lower something's temperature to the point that it freezes or becomes hard. 1888, Elias Lönnrot, John Martin Crawford (translator, from German), The Kalevala, Rune XXX: The Frost-fiend, Freeze the wizard in his vessel, / Freeze to ice the wicked Ahti, ... (intransitive) To drop to a temperature below zero degrees celsius, where water turns to ice. (intransitive, informal) To be affected by extreme cold. (intransitive, computing, software, idiomatic) Of a machine or system, to come to a sudden halt, to stop working (functioning). Synonyms: freeze up, grind to a halt, hang, lock up, seize, seize up (intransitive, idiomatic) Of a person or other animal, to stop (become motionless) or be stopped due to attentiveness, fear, surprise, etc. Synonym: freeze up (transitive) To cause someone to become motionless. Synonyms: halt, immobilize, See also Thesaurus:immobilize (figuratively) To lose or cause to lose warmth of feeling; to shut out; to ostracize. To cause loss of animation or life in, from lack of heat; to give the sensation of cold to; to chill. (transitive) To prevent the movement or liquidation of a person's financial assets Of prices, spending etc., to keep at the same level, without any increase. (ambitransitive) To prevent from showing any visible change. (transitive, ice hockey) To trap (the puck) so that it cannot be played. ===== Derived terms ===== ===== Related terms ===== ===== Descendants ===== → Maltese: ffriża ===== Translations ===== === Etymology 2 === See the above verb. ==== Noun ==== freeze (plural freezes) A period of intensely cold weather. A halt of a regular operation. 1983 October 3, Ted Kennedy, speech, Truth and Tolerance in America, Critics may oppose the nuclear freeze for what they regard as moral reasons. (computing) The state when either a single computer program, or the whole system ceases to respond to inputs. Synonym: hang (curling) A precise draw weight shot where a delivered stone comes to a stand-still against a stationary stone, making it nearly impossible to knock out. (business, finance) A block on pay rises or on the hiring of new employees etc. ===== Derived terms ===== ===== Translations ===== === Etymology 3 === ==== Noun ==== freeze (plural freezes) Obsolete form of frieze.