seize up

The term originates c. 1870 referring to a machine which jammed up because of excessive heat or friction. It has been used figuratively since c. 1950.

seize up (third-person singular simple present seizes up, present participle seizing up, simple past and past participle seized up)

1. (figuratively) To stop functioning; to come to a halt.

   Iceland's foreign currency market has seized up after the three largest banks collapsed.

   Synonyms: freeze, freeze up, grind to a halt

2. (of muscles) To stiffen or become tight and difficult to move.

   It was hard to write as my fingers had seized up with the cold weather.

3. (of a machine) To stop working suddenly, and become impossible to start again.

   My car seized up this morning. So I had to catch the bus.

• seize upon

• "seize up" in Christine Ammer, The American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms, Houghton Mifflin Company (1997).