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

The incident demonstrates that freezing out a critical voice through administrative pressure constitutes an authoritarian suppression of dissent, with the blocking itself becoming more newsworthy and damaging to the administration than the governor’s original remarks would have been. —George Skelton, Los Angeles Times, 26 Jan. 2026

The job market has been sluggish, while high interest rates and a housing affordability crisis have saddled millions in debt and frozen out would-be homebuyers. —Trevor Bach, Dallas Morning News, 26 Jan. 2026

The World Economic Forum is facing calls to freeze out members of the Iranian regime from a summit in Davos this week. —Anders Hagstrom, FOXNews.com, 18 Jan. 2026

Minnesota officials said on Thursday that the FBI is taking the lead on the investigation and freezing out state investigators. —Ted Johnson, Deadline, 9 Jan. 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