to freeze
276
1.6
- verb
- /friːz/
- A cold March wind lashed Paula's face, and her tears felt frozen on her cheek.
- freeze in place
- freeze with fear
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Watch on YouTubeHe could have saved her, but he froze up and she dropped.
- He could have saved her, but he froze up and she dropped.
- And people, people tend to freeze up in the face of that.
- Oh my God but I freeze and get in my head literally way.
- For three weeks people stand there and they freeze and they shout.
- Well, the nighthawk turned the corner and saw me and just froze, stopped dead in his tracks.
- They start blinking or they freeze one of the two.
- I saw his eyes kind of like they didn't freeze, but it was like everything stopped.
- people for some reason just freeze and they stop and they
- Yeah, well, if you if you get, if some people freeze when the camera is the addition.
Examples
-
Her head snapped up, her mouth open in shock, her body frozen in place.
Fiction book (1990) -
And people, people tend to freeze up in the face of that.
-
The students know when they are to freeze and sit where they are.
Academic text (2011) -
He could have saved her, but he froze up and she dropped.
-
At each change, the music stops abruptly, freezing the dancers in their steps.
Academic text (1991) -
Well, the nighthawk turned the corner and saw me and just froze, stopped dead in his tracks.
-
Joshua had looked up toward the door and frozen, his face going instantly ashen.
Fiction book (1990) -
Even the waitresses have stopped, frozen with their trays, denying something is going to happen.
Fiction book (1991) -
Marvin, Fay, and Siggy stand frozen, like artists' models, staring at something.
Fiction book (1991) -
When the loud noise startled him, he immediately froze in place, unable to move.
Synonyms
15
3.9
To suddenly become completely still because you are surprised
11
5.2
Freeze and stay completely still because of surprise or fear
5
3.9
To suddenly stop moving or speaking because you are surprised
1
7.7
Suddenly stop moving because you feel afraid or surprised
Antonyms
Idioms
1
7.7
Suddenly stop moving because you feel afraid or surprised
- Informal
1
9.9
To make your bottom very cold by sitting or staying outside in cold weather
Phrasal Verbs
Compounds
- Specialized
11
4.1
Food with most water removed by freezing and drying so it keeps for a long time
6
4.4
A rule that stops a company or government office from taking on new workers to save money
- Specialized
2
4.1
A way to dry food or medicine by freezing it and removing the ice so it keeps its shape
- Specialized
1
4.1
An action that keeps prices at their current level for a set time to stop big price rises
- Specialized
1
3.8
A machine or process that makes food very cold quickly to keep its taste and vitamins
- Specialized
1
6.2
A machine that keeps food or lab samples from spoiling by freezing and removing their water
How Motionless
Surface Forms
Etymology
Freeze comes from an old word for getting cold, like frost, and the picture of a body 'turning to ice' helps explain why to freeze can mean to stop moving suddenly from fear or surprise.