freeze up

verb

To be adversely affected by ice, and not function.

“Despite all of the rehearsals, as soon as I got on stage I froze up.”

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Meanings

verbfreeze up (third-person singular simple present freezes up, present participle freezing up, simple past froze up, past participle frozen up)

present singular third person freezes up · participle present freezing up · past froze up · participle past frozen up

  1. To be adversely affected by ice, and not function.

    But these precautions lost some of their merit when the L.T. trains themselves became frozen up at depots overnight.

    1962 March, “Lessons of the Freeze-up”, in Modern Railways, page 146
  2. ambitransitive(of machines and software) To come or bring to a sudden halt, stop working (functioning).

    Since the last update, the program freezes up after a few minutes of use.

  3. ambitransitive(of people and other animals) To stop or be stopped due to attentiveness, fear, surprise, etc.

    Despite all of the rehearsals, as soon as I got on stage I froze up.

  4. intransitiveTo become cold and formal in demeanour.

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see
blankfreezelock upseize up

Translations

Chinese Mandarin 凍結 /冻结, 當機 /当机
  • 凍結 /冻结 (dòngjié)adversely affected by ice
  • 當機 /当机 (dàngjī)(of machines and software) come to a sudden halt
  • 僵住 (jiāngzhù)(of people and other animals) stop or be stopped
  • 冷漠 (lěngmò)become cold and formal in demeanour
Finnish jäätyä, hyytyä
  • jäätyäadversely affected by ice
  • hyytyä(of machines and software) come to a sudden halt
  • jähmettyä(of people and other animals) stop or be stopped
  • viiletäbecome cold and formal in demeanour
French se figer
  • se figer(of machines and software) come to a sudden halt
German einfrieren, sich aufhängen
  • einfrieren(of machines and software) come to a sudden halt
  • sich aufhängen(of machines and software) come to a sudden halt
Portuguese travar, congelar
  • travar(of machines and software) come to a sudden halt
  • congelar(of machines and software) come to a sudden halt
Russian ви́снуть, зави́снуть
  • ви́снуть (vísnutʹ)(of machines and software) come to a sudden halt
  • зави́снуть (zavísnutʹ)(of machines and software) come to a sudden halt
Spanish frisar
  • frisar(of machines and software) come to a sudden halt
Cite this entry
APA

freeze up. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/freeze%20up

MLA

“freeze up.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/freeze%20up. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “freeze up,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/freeze%20up.

Source: freeze up on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.