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Glite Dictionary
❄️ To freeze again ⏸️ To stop changes
to refreeze

to refreeze

1 6.3
To stop changes in wages, prices, or hiring after they were allowed
  • verb
  • /riːˈfriːz/
  • Formal
: restablecer la congelación
  • After lifting the hiring freeze, the company decided to refreeze the ban due to budget cuts.

Examples

  • Following the negotiations, the union voted to refreeze wage increases until further discussion.

  • The government plans to refreeze prices on essential goods to protect consumers from inflation.

  • The announcement included reassurances that Pyongyang is committed to "a peaceful solution to the nuclear issue" and that "whether the DPRK refreezes its nuclear facilities or not entirely depends on the attitude of the U.S." (n77)

    Academic text (2003)

Synonyms

to freeze
vsto refreeze
  • Formal
83 5.3

Officially stop an activity, for example the use of money or assets

restores the suspension after it had been lifted

How Restricted

to clamp down
20 4.2
to refreeze
  • Formal
1 6.3
to freeze
  • Formal
83 5.3
to limit
465 2.1

Surface Forms

refreeze infinitive
refreezing present participle
refreezes third person singular
refroze past
refrozen past participle

Morphology

refreeze = freeze (semi-transparent) = re + freeze

Morphological composition re- + freeze is clear, but the policy/administrative sense of 'freeze' (suspending changes) is somewhat metaphorical and may not be obvious to all learners.

Etymology

Refreeze is made of re- 'again' and freeze 'to stop or hold in place', as in a 'hiring freeze' or 'wage freeze'. So refreeze means 'to stop changes again', for example to stop hiring or to stop pay rises after a previous freeze.