freeze
Meanings
Plural: freezes
Noun
- the withdrawal of heat to change something from a liquid to a solid
- weather cold enough to cause freezing
- an interruption or temporary suspension of progress or movement
- "a nuclear freeze"
- fixing (of prices or wages etc) at a particular level
- "a freeze on hiring"
- A period of intensely cold weather.
- A halt of a regular operation.
- The state when either a single computer program, or the whole system ceases to respond to inputs.
- 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.
- A block on pay rises or on the hiring of new employees etc.
- Obsolete form of frieze.
Verb
- stop moving or become immobilized
- change to ice
- be cold
- "I could freeze to death in this office when the air conditioning is turned on"
- cause to freeze
- "Freeze the leftover food"
- stop a process or a habit by imposing a freeze on it
- be very cold, below the freezing point
- change from a liquid to a solid when cold
- "Water freezes at 32 degrees Fahrenheit"
- prohibit the conversion or use of (assets)
- "Freeze the assets of this hostile government"
- anesthetize by cold
- suddenly behave coldly and formally
- Especially of a liquid, to become solid due to low temperature.
- To lower something's temperature to the point that it freezes or becomes hard.
- To drop to a temperature below zero degrees celsius, where water turns to ice.
- To be affected by extreme cold.
- (of machines and software) To come to a sudden halt, stop working (functioning).
- (of people and other animals) To stop (become motionless) or be stopped due to attentiveness, fear, surprise, etc.
- To cause someone to become motionless.
- 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.
- 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.
- To prevent from showing any visible change.
- To trap (the puck) so that it cannot be played.
Origin / Etymology
From Middle English fresen, from Old English frēosan (“to freeze”), from Proto-West Germanic *freusan, from Proto-Germanic *freusaną (“to frost, freeze”), from Proto-Indo-European *prews- (“to frost, freeze”).
Cognate with Scots frese (“to freeze”), Saterland Frisian frjoze (“to freeze”), West Frisian frieze (“to freeze”), Dutch vriezen (“to freeze”), Low German freren, freern, fresen (“to freeze”), German frieren (“to freeze”), Danish fryse (“to freeze”), Norwegian fryse, Swedish frysa (“to freeze”), Latin pruīna (“hoarfrost”), Welsh (Northern) rhew (“frost, ice”), and Sanskrit प्रुष्व (pruṣvá, “water drop, frost”).
Synonyms
block, freeze down, freeze out, freeze up, freezing, frost, grind to a halt, halt, hang, immobilise, immobilize, lock up, See also Thesaurus:immobilize, seize, seize up, solidify, stop dead, suspend
Scrabble Score: 18
freeze is a valid Scrabble (US) TWL wordfreeze is a valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
freeze is a valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary