unfreeze
Verb (transitive):
- To cause something frozen to become liquid or soft again: The primary meaning refers to reversing the frozen state, typically by applying warmth or removing from freezing conditions.
- To remove restrictions on the use or movement of something (like assets): In financial or legal contexts, it means to make previously blocked or inaccessible resources available again.
Verb (intransitive):
- To become liquid or soft after being frozen: This describes the process of thawing or melting from a frozen state.
- Verb (transitive):
- You need to unfreeze the chicken before you can cook it.
- The government agreed to unfreeze the foreign aid funds.
- Verb (intransitive):
- The lake will unfreeze in the spring.
- Wait for the pipes to unfreeze naturally.
- In a figurative sense: "Unfreeze" can describe making rigid attitudes, processes, or situations more flexible or fluid.
- The new manager's goal is to unfreeze the outdated company culture.
- In computing: It can refer to restoring a system or application from a suspended or locked state.
- The program crashed; try to unfreeze it by restarting.
- Defrost (verb): Often used interchangeably with "unfreeze," especially for food or freezers. (e.g., )
- Thaw (verb/noun): A common synonym for the physical melting process. (e.g., )
- Melt (verb): Specifically emphasizes changing from solid to liquid, often due to heat. (e.g., )
- Unfreezing (noun/gerund): The process or instance of becoming unfrozen. (e.g., )
- Thaw: To become free from the physical effects of freezing.
- Defrost: To remove ice or frost, especially from a freezer or food.
- Release (assets): To make financial holdings available.
- Liquefy: To make or become liquid.
(Note: "Unfreeze" itself is not commonly used with particles to form distinct phrasal verbs. The action is typically expressed by the verb alone or with prepositions like "out.") - Thaw out: A phrasal verb with a very similar meaning to "unfreeze." - We need to thaw out the frozen berries before using them.
(Note: There are no common idioms centered specifically on the word "unfreeze." The concept is more directly expressed by the verb or its synonyms like "thaw.") - Break the ice: While not directly using "unfreeze," this idiom shares the metaphorical concept of overcoming initial stiffness or formality, which is related to the figurative use of "unfreeze." - He told a joke to break the ice at the meeting.
- make (assets) available
- release the holdings in the dictator's bank account
- become or cause to become soft or liquid
- The sun melted the ice
- the ice thawed
- the ice cream melted
- The heat melted the wax
- The giant iceberg dissolved over the years during the global warming phase
- dethaw the meat