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.

   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.

Synonyms

• (stop functioning): freeze, freeze up, grind to a halt

Translations

muscles stiffen

• Finnish: mennä lukkoon
• Italian: intorpidirsi (it)
• Russian: своди́ть (ru) impf (svodítʹ), свести́ (ru) pf (svestí)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Spanish: agarrotarse (es)
• Turkish: tutulmak (tr)

machine stop working

• Italian: gripparsi
• Spanish: agarrotarse (es), trabarse (es)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Turkish: tutukluk yapmak

See also

• seize upon

References

• "seize up" in Christine Ammer, The American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms, Houghton Mifflin Company (1997).