freeze out

verb

froze out; frozen out; freezing out; freezes out

transitive verb

: exclude

freeze-out

ˈfrēz-ˌau̇t 

noun

Synonyms of freeze out

• 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

Who and the songwriting duo behind all the classics — were completely frozen out and had to hopelessly watch from the sidelines. —Andy Greene, Rolling Stone, 28 Feb. 2026

The Mavericks were coming off a brutal six-game, 11-day road trip that concluded with them being frozen out of being able to fly to Brooklyn until hours before a 123-114 victory. —Brad Townsend, Dallas Morning News, 26 Feb. 2026

That’s been a point of friction between federal authorities and state investigators, who complain that they have been frozen out of those cases so far with no access to evidence. —Steve Karnowski, Fortune, 11 Feb. 2026

That is not the case under a strong-mayor system, where councilmembers are frozen out of operational decisions and responsibility. —Steven Falk, Mercury News, 6 Feb. 2026

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