deep freeze
noun
a state or period of halted or suspended activity or progress.
Jump To:
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deep freeze
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deep-freeze
deep-freezeverb (used with object)to quick-freeze (food).
deep freeze
1 Americannoun
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a state or period of halted or suspended activity or progress.
High interest rates created a deep freeze in housing construction.
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suspended animation.
idioms
deep-freeze
2
American
[deep-freez]
/ ˈdipˈfriz /
verb (used with object)
deep-freezed,
deep-froze,
deep-freezed,
deep-frozen,
deep-freezing
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to quick-freeze (food).
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to store in a frozen state.
Etymology
Origin of deep freeze1
An Americanism dating back to 1940–45
Origin of deep-freeze2
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
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
Weather that swings from deep freeze to frying pan.
From Barron's ● Apr. 14, 2026
Car sales got a boost after deep freeze across much of the country ended and customers were able to get to showrooms.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 9, 2026
Two years after a cold-storage operator delivered the year’s largest public offering, the U.S. market for refrigerated warehouse space is in the deep freeze.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 26, 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
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
This means it needs to be transported in a carefully controlled deep-freeze delivery chain.
From BBC ● Feb. 5, 2021
I had to press my forehead against the frosty glass, had to deep-freeze my brain and ice down my anger before I could even lift my arm and rap on the door.
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
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
