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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

Critics argue that left the Fed with a blind spot, with policymakers unprepared for how stress at mortgage lenders would soon cast a deep freeze over the entire economy.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 22, 2026

Davenport expects the deep freeze to be extended given the labor market has deteriorated, trade policy and geopolitical uncertainty are elevated and Canada’s population is shrinking.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 18, 2026

History reminds us big stand offs between London and Washington, such as the UK resisting American pressure to send troops to Vietnam, don't have to banish relations to a perpetual deep freeze.

From BBC ● Mar. 3, 2026

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

From MarketWatch ● Feb. 25, 2026

Mrs. Zuckerman wanted to see 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

The deep-freeze will be particularly dangerous for the homeless.

From Washington Times ● Dec. 20, 2022

Just as the deep-freeze in Texas caused extensive suffering and death from cold, Ida will likely cause extreme suffering from excessive heat, Welton and others said.

From Seattle Times ● Aug. 30, 2021

I guess, in some twisted crevice of my mind, I was thinking I could do a deep-freeze voodoo thing on them—you know, conjure a couple of cold tickets into another chance with the warm girl.

From "Anthem of a Reluctant Prophet" by Joanne Proulx

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

Whereas the other two vaccines need to be deep-frozen, Johnson & Johnson's products will keep at temperatures between 2°C and 8°C, she said, a major advantage in remote areas.

From Science Magazine ● Jan. 9, 2015

“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