seize up

English edit

Etymology edit

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 edit

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

(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.
(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.
(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 edit

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

References edit

“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.