refrigerate
Americanverb (used with object)
-
refrigerates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
refrigerated,
past participle, past
-
refrigerating
present participle
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
-
refrigerationnoun
-
nonrefrigeratedadjective
-
refrigerativeadjective
-
refrigeratoryadjective
-
unrefrigeratedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
refrigeratesimple
-
refrigeratessimple
-
have refrigeratedperfect
-
has refrigeratedperfect
-
am refrigeratingprogressive
-
are refrigeratingprogressive
-
is refrigeratingprogressive
-
have been refrigeratingperfect progressive
-
has been refrigeratingperfect progressive
Past
-
refrigeratedsimple
-
had refrigeratedperfect
-
was refrigeratingprogressive
-
were refrigeratingprogressive
-
had been refrigeratingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of refrigerate
1525–35; < Latin refrīgerātus, past participle of refrīgerāre to make cool, equivalent to re- re- + frīgerāre to make cool, derivative of frīgus cold; see -ate 1
Explanation
To refrigerate something is to preserve it by keeping it cool. A gallon of milk might last a week if you refrigerate it, but it will be spoiled after a day or so if you leave it on the kitchen counter. At home, you refrigerate things all the time by keeping them in your refrigerator. If there's no refrigerator available, people can refrigerate things by storing them in coolers or outside in the cold months of the year. A recipe for cookies might instruct you to refrigerate them for an hour before baking them — all you have to do is put the baking sheet in the fridge. Refrigerate shares a Latin root with frigid.
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:
There have also been reports of people unable to refrigerate medication and a wheelchair user crawling down their stairs in the absence of working lifts.
From BBC ● Aug. 23, 2026
“LNG plants are very electricity-intensive because of the need to refrigerate and freeze the gas,” he said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 26, 2026
As Flores held court in the driveway, he rolled up a pant leg to show a sore from his diabetes and said that on the streets he’d have nowhere to refrigerate his insulin.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 3, 2025
Cool and store: Spoon into a jar and refrigerate.
From Salon ● Jun. 2, 2025
Think of the electricity bill to refrigerate a 200,000-square-foot plant.
From "The Omnivore's Dilemma" by Michael Pollan
He mentioned a machine that refrigerates and pumps ayran, a salty yogurt drink popular across Asia and Eastern Europe, which the group installed at an exhibition in Hanover, Germany.
From New York Times ● Sep. 22, 2022
She refrigerates half-consumed bottles, determined never to waste a drop.
From Washington Post ● May 18, 2022
To quell this thermodynamic threat, data centers overwhelmingly rely on air conditioning, a mechanical process that refrigerates the gaseous medium of air, so that it can displace or lift perilous heat away from computers.
From Scientific American ● Mar. 1, 2022
Pilapaña manages to concentrate guinea pig flavor after cooking and preparing a pate from the animal’s flesh, adds milk or cream and refrigerates the concoction until it has the rough consistency of ice cream.
From Washington Times ● Oct. 4, 2019
Pluralistic moralism simply makes their teeth chatter, it refrigerates the very heart within their breast.
From Pragmatism by William James
I’m standing in the produce aisle of my neighborhood supermarket, between the fresh vegetables receiving their bi-hourly overhead mist and a long refrigerated wall of salad kits.
From Salon ● Aug. 14, 2026
The HTA found lack of freezer space at both Nottingham hospitals meant some bodies had been put in a refrigerated area instead.
From BBC ● Jun. 25, 2026
As firefighters continue to battle a stubborn and complex fire at a massive refrigerated warehouse in Boyle Heights, residents and businesses owners have expressed frustration and health concerns as neighorhoods have been engulfed by smoke.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 24, 2026
“And for those items that are not refrigerated, stock up now, because the prices are just going to get higher.”
From MarketWatch ● May 22, 2026
No one could make them hatch if I refrigerated them for three days first, could they?
From "Unusual Chickens for the Exceptional Poultry Farmer" by Kelly Jones
Higher fuel prices have increased the cost of transporting and refrigerating perishable foods.
From BBC ● Apr. 10, 2026
There’s something that just feels right about refrigerating eggs.
From Slate ● Apr. 19, 2025
So there’s no need to let food cool before refrigerating it.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 17, 2023
Also, there is now a reference to refrigerating the sauce.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 27, 2022
The refrigerating engineer was worried, too, when he found that Mr. Popper had practically no money.
From "Mr. Popper's Penguins" by Florence Atwater and Richard Atwater
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.
