Meaning & use
freezing point
Last updated
Meanings
nounsingular
The temperature at which water turns to ice, which is 0 degrees Celsius or 32 degrees Fahrenheit.
Grammar: Used with the: the freezing point; often follows above, below or near.
Patterns
- above the freezing point
- below the freezing point
Tonight the temperature will drop below the freezing point.
Water's freezing point is 0 degrees Celsius.
The road stayed wet because it was just above the freezing point.
nouncountabletechnical
The temperature at which any particular liquid turns solid, which differs from one substance to another.
Grammar: Takes a possessive or of-phrase: the freezing point of alcohol.
Patterns
- the freezing point of something
Salt lowers the freezing point of water, which is why roads are salted.
Pure ethanol has a much lower freezing point than water.
Antifreeze keeps the freezing point of the engine coolant low.
Word forms
| plural | freezing points |
|---|
Common combinations
- below freezing point
- Temperatures fell well below freezing point overnight.
- above freezing point
- The air stayed just above freezing point all afternoon.
- lower the freezing point
- Adding sugar can lower the freezing point of a liquid.
- reach freezing point
- The thermometer reached freezing point by midnight.
- the freezing point of water
- Students measured the freezing point of water in the lab.
Synonyms and how they differ
- zero
- Zero is a casual weather word for 0 degrees Celsius, but it only suits temperatures, whereas freezing point also fits science and other liquids.
- solidification point
- Solidification point is a technical term for the same property of any substance and sounds out of place in weather talk.
- freezing
- Freezing alone is a short everyday word for the cold state, as in it is freezing, and is less exact than freezing point.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: freezing point or melting point?
freezing point vs melting point
The melting point is the temperature at which a solid turns liquid; for pure water it equals the freezing point, but the two terms describe opposite directions of change.
Practice
Which phrase best completes the sentence? 'Because the temperature stayed above the ___, the puddles did not turn to ice.'
Choose one answer.
Ice forms only when the temperature drops to the freezing point, so staying above it prevents puddles from freezing. Boiling point refers to hot liquids turning to gas.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “freezing point”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.