1. [n]  fixing (of prices or wages etc) at a particular level; "a freeze on hiring"
2. [n]  an interruption or temporary suspension of progress or movement; "a halt in the arms race"; "a nuclear freeze"
3. [n]  weather cold enough to cause freezing
4. [n]  the withdrawal of heat to change something from a liquid to a solid
5. [v]  suddenly behave coldly and formally; "She froze when she saw her ex-husband"
6. [v]  anesthetize by cold, as for certain surgical procedures
7. [v]  be cold; "I could freeze to death in this office when the air conditioning is turned on"
8. [v]  prohibit the conversion or use of (assets); "Blocked funds"; "Freeze the assets of this hostile government"
9. [v]  stop a process or a habit by imposing a freeze on it; "Suspend the aid to the war-torn country"
10. [v]  change to ice; "The water in the bowl froze"
11. [v]  cause to freeze; "Freeze the leftover food"
12. [v]  change from a liquid to a solid when cold; "Water freezes at 32 degrees Fahrenheit"
13. [v]  stop moving or become immobilized; "When he saw the police car he froze"
14. [v]  be very cold, below the freezing point; "It is freezing in Kalamazoo"

1. \Freeze\, n. (Arch.)
   A frieze. [Obs.]
   

2. \Freeze\, v. i. [imp. {Froze}; p. p. {Frozen}; p. pr. &
   vb. n. {Freezing}.] [OE. fresen, freosen, AS. fre['o]san;
   akin to D. vriezen, OHG. iosan, G. frieren, Icel. frjsa, Sw.
   frysa, Dan. fryse, Goth. frius cold, frost, and prob. to L.
   prurire to itch, E. prurient, cf. L. prna a burning coal,
   pruina hoarfrost, Skr. prushv[=a] ice, prush to spirt. ? 18.
   Cf. {Frost}.]
   1. To become congealed by cold; to be changed from a liquid
      to a solid state by the abstraction of heat; to be
      hardened into ice or a like solid body.
   Note: Water freezes at 32[deg] above zero by Fahrenheit's
         thermometer; mercury freezes at 40[deg] below zero.
   2. To become chilled with cold, or as with cold; to suffer
      loss of animation or life by lack of heat; as, the blood
      freezes in the veins.
   {To freeze up} (Fig.), to become formal and cold in demeanor.
      [Colloq.]
   

3. \Freeze\, v. t.
   1. To congeal; to harden into ice; to convert from a fluid to
      a solid form by cold, or abstraction of heat.
   2. To cause loss of animation or life in, from lack of heat;
      to give the sensation of cold to; to chill.
            A faint, cold fear runs through my veins, That
            almost freezes up the heat of life.   --Shak.
   

4. \Freeze\, n.
   The act of congealing, or the state of being congealed.
   [Colloq.]
   

5. \Freeze\, v. t.
   {To freeze out}, to drive out or exclude by cold or by cold
      treatment; to force to withdraw; as, to be frozen out of
      one's room in winter; to freeze out a competitor.
      [Colloq.]
            A railroad which had a London connection must not be
            allowed to freeze out one that had no such
            connection.                           --A. T.
                                                  Hadley.
            It is sometimes a long time before a player who is
            frozen out can get into a game again. --R. F.
                                                  Foster.
   

To lock an evolving software distribution or document against changes so it can be released with some hope of stability. Carries the strong implication that the item in question will "unfreeze" at some future date.

There are more specific constructions on this term. A "feature freeze", for example, locks out modifications intended to introduce new features but still allows bugfixes and completion of existing features; a "code freeze" connotes no more changes at all. At Sun Microsystems and elsewhere, one may also hear references to "code slush" - that is, an almost-but-not-quite frozen state.

[Jargon File]