freezing process

noun

1

: a process of excavating shafts or tunnels in unstable material (as quicksand) by freezing an area larger than the intended work and excavating in the frozen earth

2

: a method of sinking a shaft through watery strata during the winter by thawing part way through the frozen surface with fire, digging out the softened earth, and then allowing another frozen crust to form and repeating the operations as needed

Word History

Etymology

freezing from gerund of freeze entry 1

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