deep freeze

¹

noun

1. a state or period of halted or suspended activity or progress:

   High interest rates created a deep freeze in housing construction.

2. suspended animation.

deep-freeze

²

[ deep-freez ]

verb (used with object)

, deep-freezed or deep-froze, deep-freezed or deep-fro·zen, deep-freez·ing.

1. to quick-freeze (food).
2. to store in a frozen frozen state.

Word History and Origins

Origin of deep freeze¹

An Americanism dating back to 1940–45

Origin of deep freeze²

An Americanism dating back to 1945–50; deep + freeze

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. put in / into the deep freeze, Informal. to stop or suspend the activity or progress of:

   A series of quarrels put their romance into the deep freeze.

Example Sentences

And in Georgia, a racketeering case stemming from the Jan. 6 plot is in a sort of deep freeze as the state courts try to sort out whether Fulton County Dist.

From Los Angeles Times

Such was the walk of shame Cruz had to make when he was found in 2021 vacationing in Cancun while Texas was suffering from a deep freeze.

From Slate

"There may well be massive reservoirs of these primitive materials locked away in small bodies all across the outer solar system -- materials that are just waiting to erupt for us to observe them or sit in deep freeze until we can retrieve them and bring them home to Earth," Birch said.

From Science Daily

A Yale-led research team has picked a side in the "Snowball Earth" debate over the possible cause of planet-wide deep freeze events that occurred in the distant past.

From Science Daily

An abrupt shutdown of Atlantic Ocean currents that could put large parts of Europe in a deep freeze is looking a bit more likely and closer than before as a new complex computer simulation finds a “cliff-like” tipping point looming in the future.

From Seattle Times