freezing

1 of 2

adjective

freez·​ing ˈfrē-ziŋ 

1

: very cold

"Put on your jacket. It's freezing outside!"

Addy rushed home through the darkening streets as if she were pushed along by the wind. She was freezing!

—Connie Porter

2

: being at or below the temperature at which water freezes

a forecast for freezing temperatures overnight

freezing adverb

The weather was freezing cold. [=very cold]

freezingly adverb

freezingly cold temperatures

Mrs. Reed's hands still lay on her work inactive: her eye of ice continued to dwell freezingly on mine.

—Charlotte Brontë

freezing

2 of 2

noun

: the temperature at which water freezes

temperatures dipping below freezing

Synonyms

Adjective

• algid
• arctic
• bitter
• bone-chilling
• chill
• chilly
• cold
• coldish
• cool
• coolish
• frigid
• frosty
• gelid
• glacial
• ice-cold
• icy
• nipping
• nippy
• numbing
• polar
• shivery
• snappy
• wintry
• wintery

Examples of freezing in a Sentence

Adjective

why aren't you wearing a coat, as it's freezing outside?

Recent Examples on the Web

Adjective

So on another freezing morning during basic training, Specialist Brooks and 136 other soldiers prepared to rappel down a 40-foot-high wooden structure known as the Confidence Tower. —Sarah Diamond Christopher Lee, New York Times, 27 May 2024

Hernandez Fuentes and López are two of the six construction workers who died after the Dali lost power and collided with the bridge just before 1:30 a.m. March 26, sending the crew into the freezing Patapsco River. —Cassidy Jensen, Baltimore Sun, 15 Apr. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

Adjective

circa 1616, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Noun

1777, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing freezing

• freezing cold
• freezing point
• freezing rain