unfreeze
Americanverb (used with object)
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unfreezes,
present (3rd person singular)
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unfroze,
past
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unfrozen,
past participle
-
unfreezing
present participle
-
to cause to thaw; melt.
-
to remove or relax controls or restrictions on (funds, prices, rents, etc.).
verb (used without object)
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unfreezes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
unfroze,
past
-
unfrozen,
past participle
-
unfreezing
present participle
verb
-
to thaw or cause to thaw
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(tr) to relax governmental restrictions on (wages, prices, credit, etc) or on the manufacture or sale of (goods, etc)
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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unfreezesimple
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unfreezessimple
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have unfrozenperfect
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has unfrozenperfect
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am unfreezingprogressive
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are unfreezingprogressive
-
is unfreezingprogressive
-
have been unfreezingperfect progressive
-
has been unfreezingperfect progressive
Past
-
unfrozesimple
-
had unfrozenperfect
-
was unfreezingprogressive
-
were unfreezingprogressive
-
had been unfreezingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of unfreeze
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:
Efforts to unfreeze the market before its natural thaw are where conservatives and progressives are finding common ground.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 1, 2026
Their chief lever in indirect talks was a promise to unfreeze some of the $100 billion in Iranian funds held overseas.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026
Magyar has promised to crack down on corruption, improve public services such as healthcare and carry out reforms required to unfreeze billions of euros in EU funds earmarked for Hungary.
From Barron's ● Apr. 12, 2026
On Tuesday, a federal court in a separate lawsuit ordered the administration to unfreeze more than $80 million in funding that is currently being withheld.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2025
“You all need to unfreeze me right now.”
From "The Last Last-Day-of-Summer" by Lamar Giles
Maybe Garvey will also increase his Cameo fee when he inevitably unfreezes his account.
From Slate ● May 29, 2024
If within a few months, stock prices bounce back, investors start putting money into startups again and the market for initial public offerings unfreezes, the industry might be fine.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 6, 2022
But some analysts say that even if the United States unfreezes Afghanistan’s state assets and lifts sanctions, the Finance Ministry does not have the technical know-how to revive the country’s broken banking system.
From New York Times ● Jan. 13, 2022
He has vowed to continue airing the party's secrets until China unfreezes his assets and releases his relatives who have been seized by authorities, he says, as leverage against him.
From Time ● Aug. 31, 2017
Danuta unfreezes and spreads the blanket over the bed, leaving it long on the front side to cover Max.
From "The Light in Hidden Places" by Sharon Cameron
Scientists successfully unfroze part of a mouse brain—and it still worked.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 27, 2026
The high court determined the appeals court erred on a technicality when it unfroze Randazzo’s property.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 18, 2024
Less than 24 hours after I unfroze all my credit reports, I received an alert from one of the banks I use, thanking me for applying for a new checking account.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 26, 2022
In mid-January, shortly before Mr. Trump left office, Mr. Gertler secretly secured a one-year Treasury Department license that unfroze money he had deposited in financial institutions in the United States.
From New York Times ● Mar. 8, 2021
“Oh! When they touched this stuff, they unfroze it like we did with Grandma’s forks and our bikes, but just for a second.”
From "The Last Last-Day-of-Summer" by Lamar Giles
The U.S. diplomats offered a trade-off to Iran, the people said: Relinquish its claim to control the strait and renounce toll payments in exchange for billions of dollars of unfrozen funds.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026
The scientists discovered four different yeasts that can survive sub-zero temperatures in Oetzi's guts, skin and "brownish" water that melted off his body when he was partially unfrozen.
From Barron's ● Jun. 3, 2026
"Your money is being unfrozen but you can’t contact the people who actually froze it," a senior official at an HIV/AIDS organization said.
From Salon ● Feb. 4, 2025
The deal stated that the unfrozen funds could only be used by Iran for humanitarian purposes.
From BBC ● Oct. 2, 2024
Some folks said rubbing snow on frostbite was the best cure, but it seemed to me that getting the flesh unfrozen made more sense.
From "Hattie Big Sky" by Kirby Larson
But Iranian officials reiterated Tuesday that unfreezing the country’s overseas assets remains a precondition for continued negotiations.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 26, 2026
She didn’t want to deal with the upkeep or cost and didn’t care that it meant her forehead wrinkles would return, her muscles unfreezing to their natural, 40-something state.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 17, 2026
Since last month, protesters have demanded the unfreezing of their accounts with the Huione platform H-Pay, previously Huione Pay, which they said have been inaccessible since December.
From Barron's ● May 6, 2026
But called on ministers to "get children out of temporary accommodation and into permanent homes" by unfreezing housing benefits and build a new generation of social rent homes.
From BBC ● Dec. 4, 2025
DEDUCTION: We need to find them and start unfreezing more townspeople.
From "The Last Last-Day-of-Summer" by Lamar Giles
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.
