freeze frame
noun
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.
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freeze frame
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freeze-frame
freeze-framenounfilms television a single frame of a film repeated to give an effect like a still photograph
freeze frame
American
Or
freeze-frame
noun
Television, Movies.
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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.
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a button or other mechanism on a projector, videocassette system, etc., allowing one to stop the projected picture at any point.
freeze-frame
British
noun
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films television a single frame of a film repeated to give an effect like a still photograph
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a single frame of a video recording viewed as a still by stopping the tape
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of freeze frame
First recorded in 1955–60
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:
Locking hands, Helly and Mark sprint down the hall toward the unknown as alarms blare, with the episode closing out on a freeze frame of their run as a red painted image.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 21, 2025
Hungarian-born Krausz, whose team generated the first ultra-fast pulses in the early 2000s, has likened attosecond physics to a fast-shutter camera where the short light flashes allow a freeze frame look within the microcosm.
From Reuters ● Oct. 3, 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
Bright and well-lit, a freeze frame of any scene of this made-for-TV cookie-cutter “Groundhog Day-esque” movie could be used as a corporate stock photo.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 10, 2022
“If you freeze frame them, you’ll see there’s a line in their body from the center of their head to the point of contact of their blade on the ice,” Marco explained.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 25, 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
Applying a moment-of-threat approach to this shooting would require one to freeze-frame the video at the moment the officer was standing in front of Good’s car and saw it inching forward.
From Slate ● Jan. 15, 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
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.
