- freeze
- {{Roman}}I.{{/Roman}} noun1 putting a particular level on sthADJECTIVE▪ immediate▪ complete, total (esp. BrE)▪
a complete freeze on emissions
▪ hiring (esp. AmE), pay, price, wage (esp. BrE)VERB + FREEZE▪ impose▪The government has imposed a price freeze on bread.
▪ announcePREPOSITION▪ freeze on▪a freeze on fares
2 cold weather with a temperature below 0°ADJECTIVE▪ big (esp. BrE), deep (AmE), hard (AmE)▪The weather report advised us to prepare for a big freeze.
▪Internet advertising is still in a deep freeze. (AmE, figurative)
▪ autumn, spring, etc. (esp. BrE)FREEZE + NOUN▪ warning (AmE)▪{{Roman}}II.{{/Roman}}A hard freeze warning is in effect from midnight Sunday.
verb1 become ice/extremely coldADVERB▪ solid▪The pond had frozen solid.
▪ over, up▪The lake has frozen over.
▪The pipes have frozen up.
▪ quicklyPREPOSITION▪ into▪like water freezing into ice
PHRASES▪ freeze to death▪Hundreds of homeless people could freeze to death this winter.
▪Turn up the heat—I'm freezing to death! (figurative)
2 preserve foodADVERB▪ well▪Many vegetables freeze very well.
3 stop movingADVERB▪ suddenly▪ for a moment, for a second, momentarily▪His smile froze for a moment.
▪ immediately, instantly▪ completelyVERB + FREEZE▪ seem to▪Suddenly, Ronny seemed to freeze.
PREPOSITION▪ in, with▪She froze with horror when she saw the body.
▪ into▪Maggie's face had frozen into a cold mask.
PHRASES▪ freeze to the spot▪He was so surprised he froze to the spot.
▪ freeze on the spot (AmE)4 wages/pricesADVERB▪ effectively▪Salaries were effectively frozen for six months.
PREPOSITION▪ at▪Prices have been frozen at this level for over a year now.
Collocations dictionary. 2013.
