an optical effect or technique in which a single frame of film is reprinted in a continuous series, which when shown gives the effect of a still photograph.
a button or other mechanism on a projector, videocassette system, etc., allowing one to stop the projected picture at any point.
films television a single frame of a film repeated to give an effect like a still photograph
a single frame of a video recording viewed as a still by stopping the tape
First recorded in 1955–60
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The idea of the freeze frame on them at the end: OK, we’re together.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 21, 2025
Krausz, whose team generated the first ultra-fast pulses in the early 2000s, has previously likened attosecond physics to a fast-shutter camera where the short light flashes allowed a freeze frame look within the microcosm.
From Reuters ● Oct. 3, 2023
The pilot ends by returning to the cannibal scene with a reveal reminiscent of a ’90s record-scratch freeze frame — the ol’ “I bet you’re wondering how I got here.”
From Washington Post ● Apr. 7, 2023
The masterstroke might be the entrance hall specification, which throws Mishima’s freeze frame into sublime high-def.
From New York Times ● Oct. 8, 2022
Replays showed Alonso just barely held the base with his right foot — Alonso jumped for joy when a freeze frame appeared on the video board — and umpires overruled the safe call.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 19, 2022
Elsewhere, she uses that same device of repetition to freeze-frame happy memories - representing a new way of thinking.
From BBC ● Apr. 2, 2026
Even if you haven’t seen an episode of “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” in years, you can probably picture it via a single freeze-frame.
From Salon ● Jan. 31, 2026
The fact that it costs $200 to $300 million to make a movie — do we want to freeze-frame this moment and keep it forever?
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 28, 2023
But if I were nominating “Camera on the wall of the Robb Elementary hallway” for the Photo of the Year award, I’d submit, instead, the freeze-frame on one officer at 12:30 p.m.
From Slate ● Jul. 13, 2022
This could be a perfectly fine freeze-frame ending.
From "Love, Hate & Other Filters" by Samira Ahmed
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
