freeze
noun/friːz/
/friːz/
- the act of keeping wages, prices, etc. at a particular level for a period of time
- a wage/price freeze
- freeze on something a freeze on bus fares
Extra ExamplesTopics Moneyc1- It's too expensive to lift the freeze on pay.
- The government has imposed a price freeze on bread.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- immediate
- complete
- total
- …
- impose
- announce
- freeze on
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- [usually singular] freeze (on something) the act of stopping something
- a freeze on imports
- a total freeze on gas emissions
- [usually singular] (British English) an unusually cold period of weather during which temperatures stay below 0° Celsius
- Farmers still talk about the big freeze of '99.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- big
- deep
- hard
- …
- warning
- (North American English) a short period of time, especially at night, when the temperature is below 0° Celsius
- A freeze warning was posted for Thursday night.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- big
- deep
- hard
- …
- warning
of wages/prices
stopping something
cold weather
Word OriginOld English frēosan (in the phrase hit frēoseth ‘it is freezing’), of Germanic origin; related to Dutch vriezen and German frieren, from an Indo-European root shared by Latin pruina ‘hoar frost’ and frost.
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freeze