Standard Lemma guide

refrigerate

verb · 4 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /ɹɪˈfɹɪd͡ʒəɹeɪt/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: R IH0 F R IH1 JH ER0 EY2 T Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

verb

Meaning 1

To make (someone or something) cool; to cool down.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: broadly, obsolete, transitive

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

verb

Meaning 2

To keep (something) cool by containing within a refrigerator.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: specifically, transitive

Examples

  • Please refrigerate your uncooked meats at or below 40° Fahrenheit.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: fridge

Antonyms: none provided

3

verb

Meaning 3

cool or chill in or as if in a refrigerator

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • refrigerate this medicine

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: cool, chill, cool down

4

verb

Meaning 4

preserve by chilling

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • many foods must be refrigerated or else they will spoil

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: preserve, keep

History

Etymology

From participle stem of Latin refrigerō (“to make cold”), from re- + frigerō.

Across languages

Translations

13 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: يسقع (yesáʔʔaʕ) — keep cool in refrigerator
  • Bulgarian: охлаждам (ohlaždam) — keep cool in refrigerator
  • Catalan: refrigerar — keep cool in refrigerator
  • Finnish: jäähdyttää — keep cool in refrigerator
  • French: réfrigérer — keep cool in refrigerator
  • German: kühlen — keep cool in refrigerator
  • Ido: frigorizar — keep cool in refrigerator
  • Ido: koldigar — keep cool in refrigerator
  • Portuguese: refrigerar — keep cool in refrigerator
  • Romanian: refrigera — keep cool in refrigerator
  • Russian: храни́ть в холоди́льнике (xranítʹ v xolodílʹnike) — keep cool in refrigerator
  • Scottish Gaelic: fionnaraich — keep cool in refrigerator
  • Spanish: refrigerar — keep cool in refrigerator