Freeze

• POS: Noun, Verb (usu participle), Verb (intransitive), Verb (transitive)

CIDE DICTIONARY

Freeze, n. 

 A frieze.  [1913 Webster]

Freeze, v. i. [OE. fresen, freosen, AS. freósan; akin to D. vriezen, OHG. iosan, G. frieren, Icel. frjsa, Sw. frysa, Dan. fryse, Goth. frius cold, frost, and prob. to L. prurire to itch, E. prurient, cf. L. prna a burning coal, pruina hoarfrost, Skr. prushvā ice, prush to spirt. 18. Cf. Frost.].

•  To become congealed by cold; to be changed from a liquid to a solid state by the abstraction of heat; to be hardened into ice or a like solid body.  [1913 Webster]

  " Water freezes at 32freezes at 40"  [1913 Webster]
•  To become chilled with cold, or as with cold; to suffer loss of animation or life by lack of heat; as, the blood freezes in the veins.  [1913 Webster]

To freeze up (Fig.), to become formal and cold in demeanor. [Colloq.]

Freeze, v. t. 

•  To congeal; to harden into ice; to convert from a fluid to a solid form by cold, or abstraction of heat.  [1913 Webster]
•  To cause loss of animation or life in, from lack of heat; to give the sensation of cold to; to chill.  [1913 Webster]

  "A faint, cold fear runs through my veins,
  That almost freezes up the heat of life."  [1913 Webster]

  "A railroad which had a London connection must not be allowed to freeze out one that had no such connection."

  "It is sometimes a long time before a player who is frozen out can get into a game again."  [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

Freeze, n. 

 The act of congealing, or the state of being congealed.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

Freeze, v. & n.
--v. (past froze; past part. frozen)
1 tr. & intr. a turn or be turned into ice or another solid by cold. b (often foll. by over, up) make or become rigid or solid as a result of the cold.
2 intr. be or feel very cold.
3 tr. & intr. cover or become covered with ice.
4 intr. (foll. by to, together) adhere or be fastened by frost (the curtains froze to the window).
5 tr. preserve (food) by refrigeration below freezing-point.
6 tr. & intr. a make or become motionless or powerless through fear, surprise, etc. b react or cause to react with sudden aloofness or detachment.
7 tr. stiffen or harden, injure or kill, by chilling (frozen to death).
8 tr. make (credits, assets, etc.) temporarily or permanently unrealizable.
9 tr. fix or stabilize (prices, wages, etc.) at a certain level.
10 tr. arrest (an action) at a certain stage of development.
11 tr. arrest (a movement in a film) by repeating a frame or stopping the film at a frame.
--n.
1 a state of frost; a period or the coming of frost or very cold weather.
2 the fixing or stabilization of prices, wages, etc.
3 a film-shot in which movement is arrested by the repetition of a frame.

Idiom

freeze-dry (-dries, -dried) freeze and dry by the sublimation of ice in a high vacuum. freeze-frame = sense 3 of n. freeze on to colloq. take or keep tight hold of. freeze out US colloq. exclude from business, society, etc. by competition or boycott etc. freeze up obstruct or be obstructed by the formation of ice. freeze-up n. a period or conditions of extreme cold. freezing-mixture salt and snow or some other mixture used to freeze liquids. freezing-point the temperature at which a liquid, esp. water, freezes. freezing works Austral. & NZ a place where animals are slaughtered and carcasses frozen for export. frozen mitt colloq. a cool reception.

Derivative

freezable adj. frozenly adv.

Etymology

OE freosan f. Gmc

THESAURUS

Freeze

KO, abide, anesthetize, anhydrate, appall, arrest, awe, balance, ballast, ban, be cold, be still, bedaze, benumb, besot, bite, bitter weather, blast, blast-freeze, bleak weather, blight, block, blunt, brake, brine, bring to, bring up short, change color, chatter, check, checkmate, chill, chloroform, coast, cold snap, cold wave, cold weather, coldcock, congeal, corn, counterbalance, cure, cut, cut short, dam, deaden, deadlock, debar, dehydrate, depth of winter, desensitize, desiccate, didder, dither, dope, draw rein, drive away, drive out, drug, dry, dry-cure, dry-salt, dull, eject, embalm, eternalize, eternize, etherize, evaporate, exclude, expel, firm, firm up, fix, force out, freeze out, freeze solid, freeze to death, freeze-dry, freezing weather, frost, frostbite, fume, funk, glaciate, glacify, go through, grow cold, grow pale, halt, hard winter, harden, have a chill, have goose pimples, hold, horrify, horripilate, ice, ice over, ice up, immobilization, immobilize, immortalize, irradiate, jerk, kayo, keep, keep alive, keep fresh, keep quiet, kipper, knock out, knock senseless, knock stiff, knock unconscious, lay out, lie still, lose courage, lose heat, marinade, marinate, mark time, monumentalize, mummify, nail down, narcotize, nip, not breathe, not stir, numb, obtund, ostracize, pale, palsy, paralyze, peg, penetrate, perennialize, perish with cold, perpetuate, petrify, pickle, pierce, pin, pin down, preservatize, preserve, preserve from oblivion, pull up, put paid to, put to sleep, quake, quick-freeze, quiver, raw weather, refreeze, refrigerate, regelate, reject, remain, remain motionless, repose, rest, retain, salt, scare stiff, scare to death, season, set, shake, shiver, shock, shudder, smoke, smoke-cure, snap, solidify, stabilitate, stabilize, stalemate, stall, stand, stand fast, stand firm, stand still, stay, stay put, steady, stem, stem the tide, stick, stick fast, stiffen, stop, stop cold, stop dead, stop short, strike dumb, strike terror into, stuff, stun, stupefy, subzero weather, take alarm, take fright, tarry, terrify, transfix, tread water, tremble, turn color, turn pale, winter, wintry weather, wintry wind, zero weather

ROGET THESAURUS

Freeze

Preservation

VB preserve, maintain, keep, sustain, support, hold, keep up, keep alive, refrigerate, keep on ice, not willingly let die, bank up, nurse, save, rescue, be safe, make safe, take care of, guard, stare super antiquas vias, hold one's own, hold one's ground, stand one's ground, embalm, cure, salt, pickle, season, kyanize, bottle, pot, tin, can, sterilize, pasteurize, radiate, dry, lyophilize, freeze- dry, concentrate, evaporate, freeze, quick-freeze, deep-freeze, husband.

Cold

VB be cold, shiver, starve, quake, shake, tremble, shudder, didder, quiver, freeze, freeze to death, perish with cold, freeze, horripilate, make the skin crawl, give one goose flesh, be cold, shiver, starve, quake, shake, tremble, shudder, didder, quiver, freeze, freeze to death, perish with cold, freeze, horripilate, make the skin crawl, give one goose flesh.

Refrigeration

VB cool, fan, refrigerate, refresh, ice, congeal, freeze, glaciate, benumb, starve, pinch, chill, petrify, chill to the marrow, regelate, nip, cut, pierce, bite, make one's teeth chatter, damp, slack quench, put out, stamp out, extinguish, go out, burn out (incombustibility).