Crossword Dictionary

What's The Definition Of Freeze?

\Freeze\, n. (Arch.) A frieze. [Obs.]
\Freeze\, v. i. [imp. {Froze}; p. p. {Frozen}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Freezing}.] [OE. fresen, freosen, AS. fre['o]san; akin to D. vriezen, OHG. iosan, G. frieren, Icel. frjsa, Sw. frysa, Dan. fryse, Goth. frius cold, frost, and prob. to L. prurire to itch, E. prurient, cf. L. prna a burning coal, pruina hoarfrost, Skr. prushv[=a] ice, prush to spirt. ? 18. Cf. {Frost}.] 1. To become congealed by cold; to be changed from a liquid to a solid state by the abstraction of heat; to be hardened into ice or a like solid body. Note: Water freezes at 32[deg] above zero by Fahrenheit's thermometer; mercury freezes at 40[deg] below zero. 2. To become chilled with cold, or as with cold; to suffer loss of animation or life by lack of heat; as, the blood freezes in the veins. {To freeze up} (Fig.), to become formal and cold in demeanor. [Colloq.]
\Freeze\, v. t. 1. To congeal; to harden into ice; to convert from a fluid to a solid form by cold, or abstraction of heat. 2. To cause loss of animation or life in, from lack of heat; to give the sensation of cold to; to chill. A faint, cold fear runs through my veins, That almost freezes up the heat of life. --Shak.
\Freeze\, n. The act of congealing, or the state of being congealed. [Colloq.]
\Freeze\, v. t. {To freeze out}, to drive out or exclude by cold or by cold treatment; to force to withdraw; as, to be frozen out of one's room in winter; to freeze out a competitor. [Colloq.] A railroad which had a London connection must not be allowed to freeze out one that had no such connection. --A. T. Hadley. It is sometimes a long time before a player who is frozen out can get into a game again. --R. F. Foster.