Skip to main content
to freeze

to freeze

215 1.0
Become solid because of cold, like water turning to ice
  • verb
  • /friz/
: congelarse
  • When the temperature drops below 32 degrees Fahrenheit, water will freeze and turn into solid ice.
  • frozen products
  • frozen fish
  • frozen salmon

You know, if it doesn't freeze, that's one thing.

Autoplay Next

Examples

  • But they're also great to just freeze and take with you on the go.

  • You know, if it doesn't freeze, that's one thing.

  • For example, let's try to freeze a single red blood cell.

  • If students respond that he learned how to freeze food quickly, they are correct.

    Academic text (1990)
  • Ice, when you freeze water, it expands, right?

  • You didn't freeze your eggs by any chance, did you?

  • What they can't dry up, they freeze.

  • It's that just before water freezes, it expands slightly.

  • Most climbers who die on Everest remain where they fall, frozen mummies in the cold, dry air.

    Academic text (2011)
  • As a result, most seafood exports depart India frozen and with minimal value-added processing.

    Academic text (1990)

Synonyms

to solidify
vsto freeze
54 4.4

To change from a liquid or gas into a hard state as it cools

is caused specifically by cold and changes liquid into solid

Antonyms

359 1.0

To change a solid into a liquid by heating it

56 1.1

To become soft and melt after being frozen or make something melt

Idioms

Suddenly stop moving because you feel afraid or surprised

1 9.9

To make your bottom very cold by sitting or staying outside in cold weather

9.9

Be very cold, like in winter

Phrasal Verbs

to freeze out
  • Informal
19 6.7

To keep someone out of a group by being unfriendly or unfair

to freeze off
  • Informal
1 8.5

Treat someone in a cold way and ignore them to show dislike

Keep a memory exactly as it happened so you can remember it forever

To put food into a very cold freezer so it stays good for a long time

to quick-freeze
  • Specialized
1 3.8

To make food very cold quickly to keep its taste and juices

Compounds

freeze-dried
  • Specialized
11 4.1

Food with most water removed by freezing and drying so it keeps for a long time

8 6.0

A time when work or activity stops for a long time

6 4.3

A period of very cold weather that lasts several days

A rule that stops a company or government office from taking on new workers to save money

freeze-drying
  • Specialized
2 4.1

A way to dry food or medicine by freezing it and removing the ice so it keeps its shape

1 4.1

A policy that stops pay from increasing for a set time

price freeze
  • Specialized
1 4.1

An action that keeps prices at their current level for a set time to stop big price rises

1 3.5

A very cold freezer for keeping food for a long time

quick-freeze
  • Specialized
1 3.8

A machine or process that makes food very cold quickly to keep its taste and vitamins

freeze-dryer
  • Specialized
1 6.2

A machine that keeps food or lab samples from spoiling by freezing and removing their water

A short time of making something very cold before long storage

How Frozen

to ice over
2 3.4
to freeze
215 1.0
to chill
45 1.0
to cool
225 1.0

Surface Forms

freeze infinitive
freezing present participle
freezes third person singular
froze past
frozen past participle

Etymology

Freeze comes from an old Germanic word meaning 'to become cold', a thought you see in the word frost. So to freeze is to change from a liquid into ice, which is why water will turn solid when it gets very cold.