freeze
verb uk/friːz/ us/friːz/ froze | frozen
(COLD)
B1 [ I or T ]（使）冻结，（使）结冰
If you freeze something, you lower its temperature below 0°C, causing it to become cold and often hard, and if something freezes, its temperature goes below 0°C.
Water freezes to ice at a temperature of 0°C. 水在零摄氏度结冰。
The ground had frozen hard/solid. 地面已经冻得硬邦邦的了。
When the lake freezes (over) (= turns into ice on the surface), we can go skating on it. 湖面结冰后，我们可以在上面滑冰。
Our pipes froze (up) (= the water in them turned to ice) several times last winter. 去年冬天我们的水管冻了好几次。
The weather forecast says that it is going to freeze tonight (= that the temperature will be at or below 0°C). 天气预报说今晚温度会至冰点或更低。
Without a sleeping bag, you would freeze to death (= become so cold that you die) out there on the mountainside. 在山坡那儿，没有睡袋你会被冻死。
B1 [ I or T ]冷冻保存（食物）
to make food last a long time by storing it at a very low temperature so that it becomes hard
I'll freeze any food that's left over. 我会把剩下的食物都冷冻起来。
Most soups freeze (= can be preserved by being stored at a very low temperature) well. 大多数汤都可以冷冻保存。
- More examples
- She'll prepare the food ahead of time and freeze it.
- If required, freeze on day of purchase.
- The river froze to a depth of over a metre.
- It was so cold that the clothes on the washing line had frozen.
- The river freezes every winter.
(STOP WORKING)
[ I ] US (also freeze up)（引擎或锁）卡住，堵塞
If an engine or lock freezes, it stops working because its parts have become stuck and can no longer move.
My old bicycle was so rusty that the gears had frozen. 我的旧自行车锈得太厉害，齿轮都卡住不动了。
If the lock has frozen up, try lubricating it with oil. 如果锁卡住了，上点油润滑一下试试。
(STOP MOVING)
B2 [ I ]（尤指出于恐惧）僵住，呆住
If a person or animal that is moving freezes, it stops suddenly and becomes completely still, especially because of fear.
She saw someone outside the window and froze. 她看见窗外有人，一下就呆住了。
"Freeze (= don't move) or I'll shoot!" screamed the gunman. “不许动，否则我就开枪了！”那个持枪者大喊道。
(MONEY/PROPERTY)
[ T ]使（工资、物价等）固定不变，阻止…增长
To freeze something such as pay or prices is to fix it at a particular level and not allow any increases.
The government has frozen pensions until the end of next year. 政府已决定在明年年底之前维持养老金水平不变。
[ T ]冻结（资金或财产）
to officially and legally prevent money or property from being used or moved
When it was obvious the company was going bankrupt, the government ordered all their assets to be frozen. 当该公司很明显要破产倒闭时，政府下令冻结其全部资产。
Idiom
be cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkeyidiom humorous 冷得要命
to be very cold
Phrasal verb
freeze someone out 排挤，排斥
to make someone feel that they are not part of a group by being unfriendly towards that person, or to stop someone from being included in an arrangement or activity
I felt I was being frozen out of/from the discussions. 我感觉他们在排挤我，不让我参加讨论。
He believed that organizations like theirs were being frozen out. 他认为他们那一类的组织被排除在外了。
freeze
noun uk/friːz/ us/friːz/
(COLD WEATHER)
[ S ]严寒期，冰冻期
a period of extremely cold weather
(STOP)
[ C ]（暂时的）冻结，停滞
a temporary stopping of something
The government has imposed a wage freeze/a freeze on wage increases. 政府暂时冻结了工资增长。