seize up
/ˌsiz ˈʌp/ verb- To stop functioning; to come to a halt. · Iceland's foreign currency market has seized up after the three largest banks collapsed.
- To stiffen or become tight and difficult to move. · It was hard to write as my fingers had seized up with the cold weather.
- To stop working suddenly, and become impossible to start again. · My car seized up this morning. So I had to catch the bus.
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