freeze out

verb

froze out; frozen out; freezing out; freezes out

transitive verb

: exclude

freeze-out

ˈfrēz-ˌau̇t 

noun

Synonyms

• exclude
• ban
• eliminate
• shut out
• bar
• prevent
• rule out

Examples of freeze out in a Sentence

a housing market that effectively freezes out people of moderate means

Recent Examples on the Web

That's because Beijing, the most important overseas market for the NBA, effectively froze out the NBA in 2019 following a fallout over protests in Hong Kong. —Sam Meredith, CNBC, 10 Oct. 2025

Howard says that Ream, who was frozen out of the setup until breaking back in ahead of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, is key to the squad’s culture. —Adam Crafton, New York Times, 7 Oct. 2025

The Democrats have been frozen out, there is no input. —Andrew Stanton, MSNBC Newsweek, 17 Sep. 2025

It’s caused millions of these young workers to be frozen out of new opportunities, and men are largely the ones being impacted. —Emma Burleigh, Fortune, 25 Aug. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1861, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for freeze out

• roundabout
• runabout
• sauerkraut
• thereabout
• turnabout
• about
• bailout
• blackout
• blowout
• breakout
• burnout
• buyout

Legal Definition

freezeout

1 of 2 noun

freeze·​out

ˈfrēz-ˌau̇t

: a corporate action (as a merger) taken by those in control of the corporation (as controlling shareholders or the board of directors) for the purpose of causing the minority shareholders to lose their equity in the corporation (as by the sale of their shares) compare squeezeout

freeze out

2 of 2 transitive verb

: to subject to a freezeout