freezeto chill, congeal, or become ice: freeze the leftoversNot to be confused with:frees ? allows; lets loose: He frees the animal from the trap.frieze ? an ornamental strip: The frieze on the antique chair was beautiful.Abused, Confused, & Misused Words by Mary Embree Copyright © 2007, 2013 by Mary Embreefreeze (fr?z)v. froze (fr?z), fro·zen (fr??z?n), freez·ing, freez·es v.intr.1. a. To pass from the liquid to the solid state by loss of heat.b. To acquire a surface or coat of ice from cold: The lake froze over in January. Bridges freeze before the adjacent roads.2. To become clogged or jammed because of the formation of ice: The pipes froze in the basement.3. To be at that degree of temperature at which ice forms: It may freeze tonight.4. To be killed or harmed by cold or frost: They almost froze to death. Mulch keeps garden plants from freezing.5. To be or feel uncomfortably cold: Aren’t you freezing without a coat?6. a. To become fixed, stuck, or attached by or as if by frost: The lock froze up with rust.b. To stop functioning properly, usually temporarily: My computer screen froze when I opened the infected program.7. a. To become motionless or immobile, as from surprise or attentiveness: I heard a sound and froze in my tracks.b. To become unable to act or speak, as from fear: froze in front of the audience.8. To become rigid and inflexible; solidify: an opinion that froze into dogma.v.tr.1. a. To convert into ice.b. To cause ice to form upon.c. To cause to congeal or stiffen from extreme cold: winter cold that froze the ground.2. To preserve (foods, for example) by subjecting to freezing temperatures.3. To damage, kill, or make inoperative by cold or by the formation of ice.4. To make very cold; chill.5. To immobilize, as with fear or shock.6. To chill with an icy or formal manner: froze me with one look.7. To stop the motion or progress of: The negotiations were frozen by the refusal of either side to compromise; froze the video in order to discuss the composition of the frame.8. a. To fix (prices or wages, for example) at a given or current level.b. To prohibit further manufacture or use of.c. To prevent or restrict the exchange, withdrawal, liquidation, or granting of by governmental action: freeze investment loans during a depression; froze foreign assets held by US banks.9. To anesthetize by chilling.10. Sports To keep possession of (a ball or puck) so as to deny an opponent the opportunity to score.n.1. a. The act of freezing.b. The state of being frozen.2. A spell of cold weather; a frost.3. A restriction that forbids a quantity from rising above a given or current level: a freeze on city jobs; a proposed freeze on the production of nuclear weapons.Phrasal Verb: freeze out To shut out or exclude, as by cold or unfriendly treatment: The others tried to freeze me out of the conversation.Idiom: freeze (someone’s) blood To affect with terror or dread; horrify: a scream that froze my blood.[Middle English fresen, from Old English fr?osan; see preus- in Indo-European roots.]freez?a·ble adj.Word History: Describing the landscape of Hell in Book II of Paradise Lost, Milton depicts “a frozen Continent … beat with perpetual storms … the parching Air Burns frore, and cold performs th’ effect of Fire.” It is evident from these lines that frore has some relationship to frozen, but what exactly is it? The Modern English paradigm for the verb freeze is freeze, froze, frozen, with a z throughout. However, in Old English, the principal parts were fr?osan, fr?as, froren. The r in the past participle froren is from a prehistoric s that became r by Verner’s Law, a sound shift that changed s in certain positions into r. (The effects of Verner’s Law can also be seen in such Modern English pairs as was and were, and lose and (love-)lorn.) During the Middle English period, a new past participle frosen was created using the s from the first two principal parts; this survives as frozen nowadays. The older participle, spelled froren or frore in Middle English, lived on as a poetic word for “cold,” but well before Milton’s day it had become archaic in the standard language.American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.freeze (fri?z) vb, freezes, freezing, froze (fr??z) or frozen (?fr??z?n) 1. to change (a liquid) into a solid as a result of a reduction in temperature, or (of a liquid) to solidify in this way, esp to convert or be converted into ice2. (when: intr, sometimes foll by over or up) to cover, clog, or harden with ice, or become so covered, clogged, or hardened: the lake froze over last week. 3. to fix fast or become fixed (to something) because of the action of frost4. (tr) to preserve (food) by subjection to extreme cold, as in a freezer5. to feel or cause to feel the sensation or effects of extreme cold6. to die or cause to die of frost or extreme cold7. to become or cause to become paralysed, fixed, or motionless, esp through fear, shock, etc: he froze in his tracks. 8. (Film) (tr) to cause (moving film) to stop at a particular frame9. to decrease or cause to decrease in animation or vigour10. to make or become formal, haughty, etc, in manner11. (Economics) (tr) to fix (prices, incomes, etc) at a particular level, usually by government direction12. (Banking & Finance) (tr) to forbid by law the exchange, liquidation, or collection of (loans, assets, etc)13. (Commerce) (tr) to prohibit the manufacture, sale, or use of (something specified)14. (tr) to stop (a process) at a particular stage of development15. (Medicine) (tr) informal to render (tissue or a part of the body) insensitive, as by the application or injection of a local anaesthetic16. informal chiefly (foll by: onto) US to clingn17. the act of freezing or state of being frozen18. (Physical Geography) meteorol a spell of temperatures below freezing point, usually over a wide area19. (Economics) the fixing of incomes, prices, etc, by legislation20. another word for frostsentence substitutechiefly US a command to stop still instantly or risk being shot[Old English fr?osan; related to Old Norse frj?sa, Old High German friosan, Latin pr?r?re to itch; see frost] ?freezable adjCollins English Dictionary ? Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014freeze (friz) v. froze, fro?zen, freez?ing, n. v.i. 1. to become hardened into ice or into a solid body; change from the liquid to the solid state by loss of heat. 2. to become hard or stiffened because of loss of heat. 3. to suffer the effects or sensation of intense cold: We froze until the heat came on. 4. to be of the degree of cold at which water freezes: It may freeze tonight. 5. to lose warmth of feeling: My heart froze at the news. 6. to become speechless or immobilized. 7. to stop suddenly and remain motionless: I froze in my tracks. 8. to become obstructed by the formation of ice: The water pipes froze. 9. to die or be injured because of frost or cold. 10. to become fixed to something by or as if by the action of frost. 11. to become unfriendly, secretive, or aloof (often fol. by up). 12. to become temporarily inoperable; cease to function (often fol. by up): The new software makes my computer freeze. v.t. 13. to change from a fluid to a solid form by loss of heat; congeal. 14. to form ice on the surface of. 15. to harden or stiffen (an object containing moisture) by cold. 16. to quick-freeze. 17. to subject to freezing temperature. 18. to cause to suffer the effects of intense cold. 19. to chill with fear. 20. to immobilize with fright or alarm. 21. to kill by frost or cold: A late snow froze the buds. 22. to fix fast with ice: a sled frozen to a sidewalk. 23. to obstruct or close by the formation of ice: Cold had frozen the pipes. 24. to fix (rents, prices, etc.) at a specific amount, usu. by government order. 25. to stop or limit production, use, or development of: an agreement to freeze nuclear weapons. 26. to prevent (assets) from being liquidated or collected. 27. to render (a part of the body) insensitive to pain or slower in its functioning by artificial means. 28. to discourage by unfriendly or aloof behavior. 29. to photograph (a moving subject) at a shutter speed fast enough to produce an unblurred, seemingly motionless image. 30. to stop by means of a freeze-frame mechanism. 31. to maintain possession of (a ball or puck) for as long as possible usu. without trying to score. 32. freeze out, to exclude or compel to withdraw from participation, esp. by cold treatment or severe competition. 33. freeze over, to become coated with ice. n. 34. an act or instance of freezing. 35. the state of being frozen. 36. a period of very cold weather. 37. a legislative action to control prices, rents, production, etc. 38. a decision by one or more nations to stop or limit production or development of weapons. [before 1000; Middle English fresen, Old English fr?osan] freez?a?ble, adj. Random House Kernerman Webster’s College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.freeze (fr?z) To change from a liquid to a solid state by cooling or being cooled to the freezing point.The American Heritage® Student Science Dictionary, Second Edition. Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.freezePast participle: frozenGerund: freezingImperativePresentPreteritePresent ContinuousPresent PerfectPast ContinuousPast PerfectFutureFuture PerfectFuture ContinuousPresent Perfect ContinuousFuture Perfect ContinuousPast Perfect ContinuousConditionalPast ConditionalImperativefreezefreezePresentI freezeyou freezehe/she/it freezeswe freezeyou freezethey freezePreteriteI frozeyou frozehe/she/it frozewe frozeyou frozethey frozePresent ContinuousI am freezingyou are freezinghe/she/it is freezingwe are freezingyou are freezingthey are freezingPresent PerfectI have frozenyou have frozenhe/she/it has frozenwe have frozenyou have frozenthey have frozenPast ContinuousI was freezingyou were freezinghe/she/it was freezingwe were freezingyou were freezingthey were freezingPast PerfectI had frozenyou had frozenhe/she/it had frozenwe had frozenyou had frozenthey had frozenFutureI will freezeyou will freezehe/she/it will freezewe will freezeyou will freezethey will freezeFuture PerfectI will have frozenyou will have frozenhe/she/it will have frozenwe will have frozenyou will have frozenthey will have frozenFuture ContinuousI will be freezingyou will be freezinghe/she/it will be freezingwe will be freezingyou will be freezingthey will be freezingPresent Perfect ContinuousI have been freezingyou have been freezinghe/she/it has been freezingwe have been freezingyou have been freezingthey have been freezingFuture Perfect ContinuousI will have been freezingyou will have been freezinghe/she/it will have been freezingwe will have been freezingyou will have been freezingthey will have been freezingPast Perfect ContinuousI had been freezingyou had been freezinghe/she/it had been freezingwe had been freezingyou had been freezingthey had been freezingConditionalI would freezeyou would freezehe/she/it would freezewe would freezeyou would freezethey would freezePast ConditionalI would have frozenyou would have frozenhe/she/it would have frozenwe would have frozenyou would have frozenthey would have frozenCollins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011