seize up

English

Etymology

The term originates c. 1870 referring to a machine which jammed up because of excessive heat or friction. It has been used figuratively since c. 1950.

Verb

seize up (third-person singular simple present seizes up, present participle seizing up, simple past and past participle seized up)

1. (figuratively) To stop functioning; to come to a halt.

   Synonyms: freeze, freeze up, grind to a halt

   Iceland's foreign currency market has seized up after the three largest banks collapsed.

2. (of muscles) To stiffen or become tight and difficult to move.

   It was hard to write as my fingers had seized up with the cold weather.

3. (of a machine) To stop working suddenly, and become impossible to start again.

   My car seized up this morning. So I had to catch the bus.

Translations

muscles stiffen

• Finnish: mennä lukkoon
• German: verhärten (de)
• Italian: intorpidirsi (it)
• Russian: своди́ть (ru) impf (svodítʹ), свести́ (ru) pf (svestí)
• Spanish: agarrotarse (es)
• Turkish: tutulmak (tr)

machine stop working

• Finnish: lakata toimimasta, leikata kiinni (engine), hirttää kiinni (engine, informal)
• French: se gripper (fr)
• German: blockieren (de), festfressen (engine), verklemmen (de) (moving piece; reflexive), liegen bleiben (de) (car)
• Italian: gripparsi
• Spanish: agarrotarse (es), trabarse (es)
• Turkish: tutukluk yapmak

See also

• seize upon

References

• “seize up”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present, retrieved 2023-06-29, reproduced from Christine Ammer, The American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin, 2003, →ISBN.