Defrost vs. Freeze

(transitive) To remove frost from.

Example: ‘I have just defrosted the fridge.’;

(transitive) To thaw something.

Example: ‘Will you defrost the chops for supper tonight?’;

To recover from something tiresome.

Example: ‘See you tomorrow evening; I'll have defrosted from my trip by then.’;

The removal of frost.

To remove the frost or ice from; as, to defrost the car window; to defrost a refrigerator.

To become free of frost or ice; as, it took four hours for the refrigerator to defrost.

To thaw; - used especially of items removed from a freezer, such as frozen foods.

make or become free of frost or ice;

Example: ‘Defrost the car window’;

(intransitive) Especially of a liquid, to become solid due to low temperature.

(transitive) To lower something's temperature to the point that it freezes or becomes hard.

Example: ‘Don't freeze meat twice.’;

(intransitive) To drop to a temperature below zero degrees celsius, where water turns to ice.

Example: ‘It didn't freeze this winter, but last winter was very harsh.’;

To be affected by extreme cold.

Example: ‘It's freezing in here!’; ‘Don't go outside wearing just a t-shirt; you'll freeze!’;

(intransitive) (of machines and software) To come to a sudden halt, stop working (functioning).

Example: ‘Since the last update, the program freezes / freezes up after a few minutes of use.’;

(intransitive) (of people and other animals) To stop (become motionless) or be stopped due to attentiveness, fear, surprise, etc.

Example: ‘Despite all of the rehearsals, I froze up as soon as I got on stage.’;

(transitive) To cause someone to become motionless.

(figuratively) To lose or cause to lose warmth of feeling; to shut out; to ostracize.

Example: ‘Over time, he froze towards her, and ceased to react to her friendly advances.’;

To cause loss of animation or life in, from lack of heat; to give the sensation of cold to; to chill.

(transitive) To prevent the movement or liquidation of a person's financial assets

Example: ‘The court froze the criminal's bank account.’;

A period of intensely cold weather.

A halt of a regular operation.

(computer) The state when either a single computer program, or the whole system ceases to respond to inputs.

(curling) A precise draw weight shot where a delivered stone comes to a stand-still against a stationary stone, making it nearly impossible to knock out.

A block on pay rises.

A frieze.

The act of congealing, or the state of being congealed.

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.

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 congeal; to harden into ice; to convert from a fluid to a solid form by cold, or abstraction of heat.

To cause loss of animation or life in, from lack of heat; to give the sensation of cold to; to chill.

Example: ‘A faint, cold fear runs through my veins,That almost freezes up the heat of life.’; ‘A railroad which had a London connection must not be allowed to freeze out one that had no such connection.’; ‘It is sometimes a long time before a player who is frozen out can get into a game again.’;

the withdrawal of heat to change something from a liquid to a solid

weather cold enough to cause freezing

an interruption or temporary suspension of progress or movement;

Example: ‘a halt in the arms race’; ‘a nuclear freeze’;

fixing (of prices or wages etc) at a particular level;

Example: ‘a freeze on hiring’;

change to ice;

Example: ‘The water in the bowl froze’;

stop moving or become immobilized;

Example: ‘When he saw the police car he froze’;

be cold;

Example: ‘I could freeze to death in this office when the air conditioning is turned on’;

cause to freeze;

Example: ‘Freeze the leftover food’;

stop a process or a habit by imposing a freeze on it;

Example: ‘Suspend the aid to the war-torn country’;

be very cold, below the freezing point;

Example: ‘It is freezing in Kalamazoo’;

change from a liquid to a solid when cold;

Example: ‘Water freezes at 32 degrees Fahrenheit’;

prohibit the conversion or use of (assets);

Example: ‘Blocked funds’; ‘Freeze the assets of this hostile government’;

anesthetize by cold

suddenly behave coldly and formally;

Example: ‘She froze when she saw her ex-husband’;