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
Connie Porter2
: 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
Charlotte Brontë
: the temperature at which water freezes
temperatures dipping below freezing
Examples of freezing in a Sentence
Adjective
why aren't you wearing a coat, as it's freezing outside?
Recent Examples on the Web
Jake Sheridan, Chicago Tribune, 15 May 2025
Flashes of orange lava leaked through the seafloor before hardening in the freezing water, indicating an eruption was taking place.
—Kameryn Griesser, CNN Money, 8 May 2025
Caitlin Yilek, CBS News, 20 May 2025
Faced with a crushing financial deficit totaling $265 million over the next two years, Oakland’s interim mayor proposed a budget Monday that includes dozens of layoffs and the freezing of hundreds of other positions.
—Jakob Rodgers, Mercury News, 5 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for freezing
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Adjective
City attorneys also recommended a settlement for Briana Keys, who had called 911 after being locked out of her New City neighborhood home on a freezing, near-zero February night four years ago.
—Jake Sheridan, Chicago Tribune, 15 May 2025
Flashes of orange lava leaked through the seafloor before hardening in the freezing water, indicating an eruption was taking place.
—Kameryn Griesser, CNN Money, 8 May 2025
Noun
For seven minutes, Van Hollen criticized Rubio on his handling of issues ranging from the freezing of humanitarian assistance in Sudan during a genocide, deportations to El Salvador without due process and revoking student visas.
—Caitlin Yilek, CBS News, 20 May 2025
Faced with a crushing financial deficit totaling $265 million over the next two years, Oakland’s interim mayor proposed a budget Monday that includes dozens of layoffs and the freezing of hundreds of other positions.
—Jakob Rodgers, Mercury News, 5 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for freezing
Cite this Entry
“Freezing.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/freezing. Accessed 5 Jun. 2025.
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