凍る
こおる
kooru
= to freeze; to ice over; to become frozen
凍る (kooru) means to freeze — the process by which water becomes ice, pipes solidify in winter, and ground hardens with frost. It appears in weather reports, winter safety warnings, and everyday speech about cold. Its causative form 凍らせる (kooraseru — to freeze something) and the adjective 凍った (kootta — frozen) are equally common, making kooru a versatile winter vocabulary word.
Kooru (凍る) is a godan intransitive verb meaning to freeze or ice over. Conjugations: 凍ります (koorimasu — polite present), 凍った (kootta — plain past, frozen), 凍っている (kootte iru — currently frozen). Usage: 道路が凍る (douro ga kooru — the road freezes), 湖が凍る (mizuumi ga kooru — the lake freezes over), 指が凍りそう (yubi ga koori-sou — my fingers feel like they’re going to freeze). Related: 凍らせる (kooraseru — to freeze something, transitive causative), 冷凍 (reitou — frozen, refrigerator-frozen), 凍結 (touketsu — freezing over, also: asset freeze). Set phrase: 血が凍る (chi ga kooru — one’s blood freezes, i.e., one is frozen with fear/shock).
凍る (kooru) is intransitive — it describes what the object itself does (the road freezes, the water freezes). The transitive counterpart is 凍らせる (kooraseru — to freeze something): 水を凍らせる (mizu wo kooraseru — to freeze water). A common confusion: 凍る uses the double-o sound: こおる (ko-o-ru), not こる (koru — to stiffen/have stiffness). In winter weather news, 道路の凍結に注意 (douro no touketsu ni chui — caution: icy roads) and 路面が凍っています (romen ga kootte imasu — the road surface is frozen) are standard public safety announcements.
凍 (tou/kooru) features the 冫(two-stroke water/ice radical, nisuii) on the left, indicating cold or ice, and 東 (higashi — east) as the phonetic component on the right. The ice radical appears in many cold-related kanji: 冷 (rei/tsumetai — cold), 冬 (fuyu — winter), 氷 (hyou/koori — ice). Together: frozen water, the transformation state of water under cold. 凍 appears in 冷凍庫 (reitouko — freezer), 凍傷 (toushou — frostbite), 凍死 (toushi — death by freezing).
Everyday use
朝起きたら車のフロントガラスが凍っていた。
Asa okitara kuruma no furontogurasu ga kootte ita.
When I woke up in the morning, the car windshield was frozen over.
Casual / Social Media
今朝の気温マイナス10度。水たまりが完全に凍ってて足元やばい
Kesa no kion mainasu juu-do. Mizutamari ga kanzen ni kootte te ashimoto yabai
This morning’s temperature was -10 degrees. The puddles are completely frozen — the footing is dangerous
Formal / Cultural context
北海道や東北地方では冬季に道路が凍結する「ブラックアイスバーン」現象が交通安全上の重大リスクとなっており、路面温度センサーと散布車による融雪剤散布を組み合わせた凍結防止対策が自治体によって実施されている。
Hokkaidou ya Touhoku chihou de wa touji ni douro ga touketsu suru ‘Burakku Aisu Baan’ genshou ga koutsuu anzen-jou no juudai risuku to natte ori, romen ondo sensaa to sanpu-sha ni yoru yuusetsu-zai sanpu wo kumiawaseta touketsu boushi taisaku ga jichitai ni yotte jisshi sarete iru.
In Hokkaido and Tohoku regions, the phenomenon of roads freezing into ‘black ice’ in winter is a major traffic safety risk, and anti-freezing measures combining road surface temperature sensors with spreader vehicles applying snow-melt agents are implemented by local governments.
Winter in northern Japan — particularly Hokkaido, Tohoku, and the Sea of Japan coast — means months of serious freezing conditions. 路面凍結 (romen touketsu — road surface icing) is a major public safety concern, and local governments issue daily 凍結注意情報 (touketsu chuui jouhou — icing advisory information) during the winter season. Residents of snowy regions develop specific winter driving skills, including how to brake gently on ice and how to recognize black ice (ブラックアイスバーン, burakku aisu baan — a glassy, nearly invisible ice surface).
The figurative use of 凍る language is expressive in Japanese. 血が凍る (chi ga kooru — one’s blood freezes) describes the physical sensation of extreme shock or horror. 凍りついた (kooritsuita — frozen stiff, unable to move) describes paralysis from fear or surprise: 「その言葉を聞いて、その場に凍りついた」(sono kotoba wo kiite, sono ba ni koorit suita — hearing those words, I froze on the spot). These figurative uses echo the physical reality of freezing — sudden, involuntary, immobilizing — making them viscerally effective metaphors.
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