freeze
nounEtymology See the above verb.
A period of intensely cold weather.
- In order to work properly, the cotton stripper required that the plant be brown and brittle, as happened after a freeze, so that the cotton bolls could snap off easily.2009, Pietra Rivoli, The Travels of a T-shirt in the Global Economy, 2nd edition, page 38:
A halt of a regular operation.
- Without a freeze it might be possible to proceed with the production and deployment of such destabilizing systems as the MX, Trident II, cruise missiles and SS-18s, -19s and -20s.1982 October, William Epstein, “The freeze: a hot issue at the United Nations”, in Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists:
- 1983 October 3, Ted Kennedy, speech, Truth and Tolerance in America, Critics may oppose the nuclear freeze for what they regard as moral reasons.
1 more example
- Many of our opponents in Congress are advocating a freeze in Federal spending and an increase in taxes.1985 April 27, Ronald Reagan, Presidential Radio Address:
Computing, Engineering, Mathematics, Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Sciences The state when either a single computer program, or the whole system ceases to respond to inputs.
Ball games, Curling, Games, Hobbies, Lifestyle, Sports A precise draw weight shot where a delivered stone comes to a stand-still against a stationary stone, making it nearly impossible to knock out.
- The reason I said the guard wasn't the toughest shot in curling is because, in my book, that's a shot called the freeze. A stone thrown as a freeze comes perfectly to rest directly in front of another stone, without moving it (see Figure 10-5).2006, Bob Weeks, Curling for Dummies, page 143:
- a hiring freeze; a pay freeze
- "We need a different understanding of revenues and public expenditure. The 15-year freeze on fuel duty and lack of tax on aviation fuel are effectively a huge subsidy to those forms of travel, but they are not described as subsidy because they are foregone revenue. Yet if you invest to hold rail fares, it's seen as subsidy."2025 May 28, Ben Plowden talks to Anthony Lambert, “The railway is an essential public service”, in RAIL, number 1036, page 33:
- Derived terms
- freeze tag, hard freeze, rent freeze