refrigerate

R1E1F4R1I1G2E1R1A1T1E1
/ɹɪˈfɹɪd͡ʒəɹeɪt/

verb

To make (someone or something) cool; to cool down.

“Please refrigerate your uncooked meats at or below 40° Fahrenheit.”

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Less commonScrabble 15

Meanings

verbrefrigerate (third-person singular simple present refrigerates, present participle refrigerating, simple past and past participle refrigerated)

present singular third person refrigerates · participle present refrigerating · participle past refrigerated · past refrigerated

  1. broadlyobsoletetransitiveTo make (someone or something) cool; to cool down.

    [T]he other [artery] goes to the lungs, to fetch air to refrigerate the heart.

    1621, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy, […], Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] John Lichfield and Iames Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC
    3 more examples

    Lo here hath euery fayth[f]ull man a ſure promiſe, yͭ in the feruent heate of tentacion or tribulacion […] God gyueth the faythful man yͭ hopeth in him, yͭ ſhadow of hys holy ſhoulders, which are brode ⁊ large, ſufficient to refrigerate ⁊ refreſhe the man in that heate, and in euerye trybulacion he putteth hys ſhoulders for a defence betwene.

    1534 (date written; published 1553), Thomas More, “A Dyalogue of Comforte agaynste Tribulacyon, […]. A Special Comfort in Al Temptacion.”, in Wyllyam Rastell [i.e., William Rastell], editor, The Workes of Sir Thomas More Knyght, […], London: […] Iohn Cawod, Iohn Waly, and Richarde Tottell, published 30 April 1557, →OCLC, book II, page 1179, column 1

    They vvould go over board vvith a Rope faſtned about them, that by drenching themſelves a vvhile in the Sea, they might eaſe the internal Heat vvhich parched them; and vvhen they ſtood any of them to ſteer the Veſſel, they vvould have their Feet in a Pail of Sea VVater to refrigerate 'em.

    1702, Cotton Mather, “[Book VI (Thaumaturgus: […]).] Chapter I. Christus Super Aquas: Relating Wonderful Sea Deliverances.”, in Magnalia Christi Americana: Or, the Ecclesiastical History of New-England, from Its First Planting in the Year 1620. unto the Year of Our Lord, 1698. […], London: […] Thomas Parkhurst, […], →OCLC, section VI (Sore Calamities at Sea Survived), page 5, column 2

    Persons born in winter are, so to say, of a cold and frosty disposition and can thereby exert a refrigerating influence on the temperature of the air.

    1900, James George Frazer, The Golden Bough, volume 2, page 104
  2. specificallytransitiveTo keep (something) cool by containing within a refrigerator.

    Please refrigerate your uncooked meats at or below 40° Fahrenheit.

    Synonyms: fridge

Synonyms & antonyms

verbTo keep (something) cool by containing within a refrigerator.

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Also see

Origin

  1. Latinrefrigerō“to make cold”
  2. Englishrefrigerate

From participle stem of Latin refrigerō (“to make cold”), from re- + frigerō.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Bulgarian охлаждам
  • охлаждам (ohlaždam)keep cool in refrigerator
Catalan refrigerar
  • refrigerarkeep cool in refrigerator
Finnish jäähdyttää
  • jäähdyttääkeep cool in refrigerator
French réfrigérer
  • réfrigérerkeep cool in refrigerator
German kühlen
  • kühlenkeep cool in refrigerator
Portuguese refrigerar
  • refrigerarkeep cool in refrigerator
Romanian refrigera
  • refrigerakeep cool in refrigerator
Russian храни́ть в холоди́льнике
  • храни́ть в холоди́льнике (xranítʹ v xolodílʹnike)keep cool in refrigerator
Scottish Gaelic fionnaraich
  • fionnaraichkeep cool in refrigerator
Spanish refrigerar
  • refrigerarkeep cool in refrigerator
Cite this entry
APA

refrigerate. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/refrigerate

MLA

“refrigerate.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/refrigerate. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “refrigerate,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/refrigerate.

Source: refrigerate on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.