How does 也 work in 宁愿冻死也不穿? In the following sentence:

很多人因为害怕穿秋裤显胖，宁愿冻死也不穿。

What does 也 mean in the sentence? The entire sentence should mean something like the following:

Because of the fear that wearing one more pants behind the trousers make you look fat, so many people rather want to...

I don't understand the last part of the sentence, especially on the 也 part.
According no Pleco, 也 has the following entry (as an adverb):

[for emphasis, often before a negative expression]

她一天假也没请过。


But then how does it connect 冻死 and 不穿 and what does the sentence mean?
Also, is my understanding that 也 here works as an emphasis correct?
In this sentence 也 should not be understood individually.In Chinese 宁愿...也... is a coordinating conjunction. It means a choose relationship. You choose the option behind 宁愿 and you give up the option behind 也.
I think it seems like rather...than... in English.宁愿冻死也不穿 may be translated to rather be dead than be wearing the long underwear.
More examples about 宁愿...也...could be see in here;
And More examples about coordinating conjunction in Chinese could be see in here