French word

surgeler

Pronunciation

IPA/syʁʒəle/

Meaning

  • verbdeep-freeze

Example

Il faut surgeler le poisson tout de suite.

The fish must be deep-frozen immediately.

Illustration for surgeler (deep-freeze)

More examples

Je vais surgeler des légumes pour l'hiver.

I am going to deep-freeze vegetables for the winter.

Core concept

A fish freezing almost at once into fine ice crystals instead of large ones, helping it retain its original texture.

Common phrases

  • surgeler des légumes

    deep-freeze vegetables

  • surgeler les restes

    deep-freeze leftovers

Similar words

congeler: Preserving food by freezing it.
décongeler: Melting frozen food until it is no longer frozen.
geler: Becoming solid and hard when water freezes.
réfrigérer: Keeping food cold by lowering its temperature.

Definition in French

Congeler très rapidement un aliment pour éviter la formation de gros cristaux et conserver sa qualité.

Word origin

French formed surgeler by adding the prefix sur- to geler, a verb inherited through Old French from Latin gelare.

Usage tips

  • On food packaging, surgelé is a common adjective for quick-frozen products, while congeler is the more general everyday verb.

Opposites

Related words

  • surgelédeep-frozenadjective
  • surgélationdeep-freezingnoun

Word lists with this word