Past tense of freeze; turned into ice or became extremely cold, or stopped moving suddenly.
From Old English 'freosan,' related to Dutch 'vriezen' and German 'frieren.' The word originally described the natural process of water turning to ice, and by extension came to mean any sudden halting of movement or action.
The word 'froze' reveals how our ancestors understood time—when something freezes, it's trapped in a moment, unable to change or move, which is why we use it for fear-induced paralysis too, like a deer in headlights.
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