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• deep freeze
  deep freeze

  noun

  a state or period of halted or suspended activity or progress.
• deep-freeze
  deep-freeze

  verb (used with object)

  to quick-freeze (food).

deep freeze

¹ American  

noun

1. a state or period of halted or suspended activity or progress.

   High interest rates created a deep freeze in housing construction.

2. suspended animation.

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idioms

1. put in / into the deep freeze, to stop or suspend the activity or progress of.

   A series of quarrels put their romance into the deep freeze.

deep-freeze ² American  

[deep-freez] / ˈdipˈfriz /

verb (used with object)

deep-freezed, deep-froze, deep-freezed, deep-frozen, deep-freezing

1. to quick-freeze (food).

2. to store in a frozen state.

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Etymology

Origin of deep freeze¹

An Americanism dating back to 1940–45

Origin of deep-freeze²

An Americanism dating back to 1945–50; deep + freeze

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

deep freeze deep-freeze deep-froze deep-frozen

"Relations remain in deep freeze," former Pakistani diplomat, Husain Haqqani, now a senior fellow at Anwar Gargash Diplomatic Academy and Hudson Institute, told the BBC.

From BBC ● May 7, 2026

Consider these statistics about the deep freeze in the labor market:

From MarketWatch ● Feb. 25, 2026

The pandemic’s housing rush—followed by its deep freeze caused by rising prices and mortgage rates—also played a part.

From Barron's ● Feb. 22, 2026

But as the digital-asset realm evolves, the real deep freeze would be if there were an extended drop in the value of stablecoins in circulation.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 13, 2026

“It’s terribly hot,” said Mrs. Arable, fanning herself with an advertisement of a deep freeze.

From "Charlotte's Web" by E.B. White

But since 2019, the two nations have plunged into a diplomatic deep-freeze so profound that Madrid sent no official representative to the 2024 inauguration marking Sheinbaum’s ascension as Mexico’s first woman president.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 18, 2026

The committed band of Minneapolis residents organized spontaneously, defying the deep-freeze conditions to confront the operation that has ensnared longtime city residents.

From Barron's ● Jan. 28, 2026

Some laksa-inspired dishes are cult favourites though - one local says she has to buy and deep-freeze laksa sausages for her mum to take home when she visits from interstate.

From BBC ● Oct. 31, 2023

This deep-freeze haven for comets is believed to stretch more than one-quarter of the way to the next star.

From Seattle Times ● Jan. 27, 2023

Within a few weeks the deep-freeze facilities of the institute were taxed to capacity, so that other specimens had to be refused.

From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson

The researchers took weekly blood samples but did not find the culprit; so they deep-froze the samples and stored them.

From Time Magazine Archive

On land, permafrost melting and collapsing Arctic coastlines are dramatically altering ecological interactions and biogeochemistry due to the release of millennia-old carbon stores, trace elements, nutrients and potentially even deep-frozen ancient viruses and pathogenic bacteria.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 20, 2023

Until recently, the site had been deep-frozen in the subsoil known as permafrost.

From Seattle Times ● Nov. 2, 2021

The Popeyes turkey I picked up last Wednesday night was a plastic-wrapped, deep-frozen behemoth that, I was informed, would take a full four days to defrost.

From Slate ● Nov. 21, 2018

He has also signed up with cryogenics company Alcor to be deep-frozen at the time of his death in the hope that he too can be resurrected.

From The Guardian ● Jun. 30, 2017

“How far is that man going to sail? If we go on like this, we’ll soon be in Burano and as stiff as deep-frozen chickens.”

From "The Thief Lord" by Cornelia Funke