Example sentence:
I tugged open the refrigerator. A relatively safe place; I’d never heard of anyone falling inside one and dying __.
What's the correct way of referring to "dying of being frozen"?
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4We say "freeze to death".– GEdgarCommented Aug 29, 2017 at 1:39
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1The usual idiom is "froze to death" (even though the body may not actually freeze). This would be death due to hypothermia.– Hot LicksCommented Aug 29, 2017 at 1:41
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(And, actually, deaths inside refrigerators and freezers were quite common at one time, before laws changed to require them to be openable from the inside.)– Hot LicksCommented Aug 29, 2017 at 1:42
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@Hot Licks Really? I've never seen a refrigerator where a human could fit. stagemyownhome.com/images/fridgewithfood.jpg– alexCommented Aug 29, 2017 at 2:04
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2@alex: It was typically kids playing in abandoned fridges and becoming trapped. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refrigerator_death– Jon PurdyCommented Aug 29, 2017 at 2:34
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2 Answers
There are two colloquial phrases you could use here.
1. Freeze to death
In your sentence this would be:
I tugged open the refrigerator. A relatively safe place; I’d never heard of anyone falling inside one and freezing to death.
In reality you'd be dead long before your whole body froze. But it's a common phrase, with over 450,000 google hits.
2. Hypothermia
In your sentence this would be:
I tugged open the refrigerator. A relatively safe place; I’d never heard of anyone falling inside one and dying of hypothermia.
Technically "hypothermia" just means "subnormal body temperature" (ref: dictionary.com). Wikipedia defines it as "a body core temperature below 35.0 °C (95.0 °F)" and states in a picture caption: "During Napoleon Bonaparte's retreat from Russia in the winter of 1812, many troops died from hypothermia".
It doesn't have to be freezing to reduce your body temperature that low, and just because your body temperature gets that low doesn't guarantee you'll die. Although it is possible to die from your body temperature being too low, "hypothermia" is not analogous with "dying of being frozen". But then in a refrigerator it shouldn't get as low as freezing temperatures anyway, so it is probably appropriate for your situation.
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Not hypothermia, though. The use of hypothermia in the Wiki article refers to the medical condition defined by the term.– KrisCommented Aug 30, 2017 at 9:56
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1Those who are "frozen to death" may not necessarily have died of hypothermia. And those who die of hypothermia may not have frozen to death. The concepts are similar but quite different. HTH.– KrisCommented Aug 31, 2017 at 12:03
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Thanks for the clarification. I've edited the answer with this in mind.– AndyTCommented Aug 31, 2017 at 14:07
The term you're looking for is "hypothermia".
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1We're looking for long answers that provide some explanation and context. Please explain why your answer is right, ideally with citations. Answers that don't include explanations may be removed.– NVZ ♦Commented Aug 29, 2017 at 9:07