freezing

[ free-zing ]

adjective

1. (of temperatures) approaching, at, or below the freezing point.
2. extremely or uncomfortably cold; chilled:

   We were both freezing and welcomed the hot cocoa.

3. beginning to freeze or partially frozen; frozen; in the process of being or becoming frozen. frozen.

freezing

/ ˈfriːzɪŋ /

adjective

1. informal.
   extremely cold

Other Words From

• freezing·ly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of freezing¹

First recorded in 1605–15; freeze + -ing ²

Example Sentences

We should try to stay below the 32-degree freezing mark for the first time this season, with high temperatures in the upper 20s to low 30s.

From Washington Post

Some slick spots are a good bet in areas where temperatures fall below freezing or snow coats roads.

From Washington Post

On any given group run in sub-freezing temperatures, it’s amazing to see the variety of hand protection on display.

From Outside Online

After a thaw today, colder air arrives Wednesday with the possibility of snow, possibly mixed with sleet and freezing rain at times Wednesday night through Friday morning.

From Washington Post

If one or both waves pass to our north, we would see more sleet and freezing rain or even rain, while northern Maryland and Pennsylvania would get most of the snow.

From Washington Post

Creating PGCs from skin tissue, on the other hand, seems like a walk in the park compared to egg freezing.

From The Daily Beast

The “waters of Lake Minnetonka” may have been purifying, but they were also freezing.

From The Daily Beast

Drew Servis, 24, was walking home Sunday night and recalls the temperature well below freezing.

From The Daily Beast

They ended up crawling for much of the journey, scaling electric fences and fending off wild animals in freezing conditions.

From The Daily Beast

Apple is already positioning egg freezing as a boon to women at the company.

From The Daily Beast

One day in April the thermometer suddenly rose to eighteen above the freezing-point of Fahrenheit.

From Project Gutenberg

It is not an easy matter to sit up in a gale of wind, with freezing spray, and sometimes green seas, sweeping over one!

From Project Gutenberg

A sprout just showing will endure several nights' freezing if there is some warm sun in the day-time.

From Project Gutenberg

Did they perish from exposure to hunger and exhaustion, and the freezing blasts of winter?

From Project Gutenberg

When they start downward they have, as observations show, a temperature not much above the freezing point of salt water.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• biting
• chilly
• frigid
• frosty
• glacial
• icy
• numbing
• polar
• wintry