English Dictionary
◊ FREEZE
freeze
n 1: the withdrawal of hear to change something from a liquid to
a solid [syn: {freezing}]
2: weather cold enough to cause freezing [syn: {frost}]
3: an interruption or temporary suspension of progress or
movement: "a halt in the arms race"; "a nuclear freeze"
[syn: {halt}]
4: fixing (of prices or wages etc) at a particular level: "a
freeze on hiring"
v 1: stop moving or become immobilized; "When he saw the police
car he froze" [syn: {stop dead}]
2: change to ice; "The water in the bowl froze" [ant: {boil}]
3: be cold; "I could freeze to death in this office when the
air conditioning is turned on"
4: cause to freeze; "Freeze the leftover food"
5: stop a process or a habit by imposing a freeze on it;
"Suspend the aid to the war-torn country" [syn: {suspend}]
6: be very cold, below the freezing point; "It is freezing in
Kalamazoo"
7: change from a liquid to a solid when cold; "Water freezes at
32 degrees Fahrenheit" [syn: {freeze out}, {freeze down}]
8: prohibit the conversion or use of (assets); "Blocked funds";
"Freeze the assets of this hostile government" [syn: {block},
{immobilize}] [ant: {unblock}, {unblock}]
9: anesthetize by cold, as for certain surgical procedures
10: behave cold and formally
English Computing Dictionary
◊ FREEZE
freeze
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}]