freeze

geler, congeler

Devenir solide sous l’effet du froid, pour un liquide, ou le refroidir pour le rendre solide.

En anglais simple : If a liquid becomes cold enough, it turns solid; you can also make this happen by cooling it.

• Water freezes when it gets cold enough.
• The pond froze overnight.
• Freeze some water to make ice cubes.

Comment l'utiliser : freeze into something (The water froze into a solid block.)

Synonymes : turn to ice, solidify

Contraires : melt, thaw

Expressions courantes : freeze solid, freeze water, freeze into ice

geler, avoir très froid

Avoir extrêmement froid.

En anglais simple : If you do this, you feel extremely cold.

• I'm freezing without my coat.
• We froze while we waited for the bus.
• You'll freeze if you go outside like that.

Synonymes : feel very cold

Expressions courantes : freeze outside, freeze to death

geler

Faire moins de zéro degré Celsius, en parlant du temps.

En anglais simple : If the weather does this, the temperature falls below zero degrees Celsius.

• It will freeze tonight.
• It froze every night last week.
• Did it freeze while you were away?

Comment l'utiliser : it freezes (It often freezes here in January.)

Expressions courantes : freeze overnight, freeze tonight

figer, paralyser

Faire cesser brusquement tout mouvement à quelqu’un, souvent sous l’effet de la peur ou d’un choc.

En anglais simple : To make someone stop moving suddenly, often because they are frightened or shocked.

• Fear froze him.
• The guard's shout froze everyone in place.
• That unexpected sound froze her to the spot.

Comment l'utiliser : freeze someone to the spot (The sudden scream froze her to the spot.)

Synonymes : paralyze, immobilize

Expressions courantes : freeze someone, freeze someone still

gel, période de gel

Période de grand froid pendant laquelle l’eau se transforme en glace.

En anglais simple : A period of very cold weather when water turns to ice.

• A hard freeze damaged the plants.
• The freeze lasted for three days.
• Will our pipes survive another freeze?

Synonymes : cold spell

Expressions courantes : hard freeze, deep freeze, winter freeze

gel, suspension

Décision ou ordre qui arrête temporairement une activité ou empêche des changements.

En anglais simple : An order or decision that temporarily stops an activity or prevents changes.

• The government announced a spending freeze.
• A freeze on building delayed our new home.
• When will the bank lift the freeze?

Comment l'utiliser : a freeze on something (The council announced a freeze on new construction.)

Synonymes : suspension, halt, moratorium

Expressions courantes : temporary freeze, spending freeze, freeze on something

gel des salaires, gel des embauches

Mesure temporaire qui empêche les augmentations de salaire ou le recrutement de nouveaux employés.

En anglais simple : A temporary rule preventing pay increases or the employment of new staff.

• The company announced a pay freeze.
• A hiring freeze left several jobs empty.
• Workers opposed the freeze on wages.

Comment l'utiliser : a freeze on pay/hiring (The company imposed a freeze on hiring.)

Expressions courantes : pay freeze, hiring freeze, salary freeze, recruitment freeze

blocage, gel

État dans lequel un ordinateur ou un logiciel ne réagit plus à vos actions.

En anglais simple : A state in which a computer or program stops responding to what you do.

• A system freeze stopped my work.
• Restarting the computer fixed the freeze.
• Frequent freezes made the program difficult to use.

Synonymes : hang, lockup

Expressions courantes : system freeze, computer freeze, screen freeze