cold Hear it!

cold Definition

cold (kōld)

adjective

  1. of a temperature significantly or noticeably lower than average, normal, expected, or comfortable; very chilly; frigid a cold wind
    1. without the proper heat or warmth this soup is cold
    2. without the proper heat, warmth, or warm-up period: said of tires, engines, etc.
  3. dead
  4. feeling chilled
  5. without warmth of feeling; unfeeling; indifferent a cold personality
  6. not cordial or kind; unfriendly a cold reception
  7. sexually frigid
  8. depressing or saddening; gloomy to realize the cold truth
  9. not involving one's feelings; detached; objective cold logic
  10. designating or having colors that suggest cold, as tones of blue, green, or gray
  11. still far from what is being sought: said of the seeker
  12. not strong or fresh; faint or stale a cold scent
  13. ☆ Informal unconscious the boxer was knocked cold
  14. Informal unlucky or ineffective a cold streak in baseball

Etymology: ME < OE (Anglian) cald < IE base *gel-, cold > cool, Ger kalt, L gelidus

adverb

  1. ☆ absolutely; completely she was stopped cold
  2. ☆ with complete mastery the actor had the lines down cold
  3. with little or no preparation to enter a game cold

noun

    1. absence of heat; lack of warmth: often thought of as an active force
    2. a low temperature; esp., one below freezing
  2. the sensation produced by a loss or absence of heat
  3. cold weather
  4. a contagious, viral infection of the respiratory passages, esp. of the nose and throat, characterized by an acute inflammation of the mucous membranes, nasal discharge, malaise, etc.

cold Related Forms
cold′ly adverb cold′·ness noun
cold Idioms

catch cold

or take cold

to become ill with a cold

cold comfort

little or no comfort at all

come in from the cold

to come out of exile, isolation, etc.; resume an active role

leave someone cold

to fail to arouse someone's interest

have (or get) cold feet

☆ Informal to be (or become) timid or fearful

in the cold

ignored; neglected

throw cold water on

to be unenthusiastic about or toward; discourage

cold Synonyms

cold

modif.

  1. Said of the weather

    chilly, cool, crisp, icy, freezing, frigid, frosty, rimy, wintry, bleak, nippy, brisk, keen, inclement, penetrating, snowy, frozen, sleety, blasting, cutting, brumal, snappy, algid, gelid, piercing, chill, bitter, numbing, severe, boreal, stinging, glacial, intense, Siberian, sharp, raw, nipping, arctic, polar, below zero, biting; see also wintry.

    Antonyms warm, hot*, heated.

  2. Said of people, animals, or things

    freezing, frozen, clammy, stiff, chilled, frostbitten, shivering, chilly, cool, coldblooded, hypothermic, ice-cold, refrigerated, in cold storage, blue from cold*, chilled to the bone*.

    Antonyms hot*, perspiring, thawed.

  3. Said of temperament

    unresponsive, distant, unconcerned; see aloof, indifferent 1, unfriendly 2.

cold Synonyms

cold

n.

  1. Absence of warmth

    coldness, frozenness, chilliness, frostiness, frost, nip, bitterness, rawness, crispness, briskness, draft, frostbite, chill, shivers, coolness, shivering, goose flesh, numbness, iciness, frigidity, freeze, glaciation, refrigeration, gelidity, congelation; see also weather.

    Antonyms warmth, heat*, heat wave.

  2. The outdoors of a cold season

    frost, wintertime, snow; see winter.

  3. An aural or respiratory congestion

    head cold, common cold, flu, catarrh, rheum, cough, hack, sore throat, sinus trouble, cold on one's chest, bronchitis, ague, laryngitis, hay fever, grippe, influenza, rose fever, rose cold, asthma, whooping cough, pertussis, streptococcic throat, staphylococcic infection, virus, sinusitis, coryza, strep throat*, strep*, sniffles*, bug*, frog in one's throat*; see also disease.

catch cold

come down with a cold, become ill, take cold; see sicken 1.

have<strong> or </strong>get cold feet*

lose one's nerve, back down, have qualms, chicken out*; see fear 1, retreat 1.

(out) in the cold*

forgotten, ignored, rejected; see neglected.

throw cold water on*

dishearten, squelch, dampen; see discourage 1.

cold Usage Examples

Converse of object

  • brave: We had to brave the cold to see this but it was well worth it.
  • catch: You'd catch a cold for crying out loud.

Adjective modifier

  • icy: Dipping her toe in the icy cold, Mary feels her home is near.
  • biting: The snow was welcome but the low cloud and biting cold was not!
  • stinking: I have a stinking cold - on week 3 now - but everyone else ahs it too so that makes me feel better!
  • extreme: Jackets are usually worn all year in moderate whether conditions, whereas a coat if for more extreme cold whether.
  • bloody: From day one we had gale force Easterly winds, that turned mid-week into North-Easterly, it was bloody cold!
  • nasty: Despite a nasty cold hindering her performance this week Karin Jaggi ( F2 ) battled hard to take third.

Modifies a noun

  • weather: In cold weather, cold air blows under the kitchen door.
  • winter: The cold damp foggy winter of our East coast dragged slowly on.
  • water: Add enough cold water to form a stiff dough.
  • calling: We only contacted people we already knew: There was no mass circulation or cold calling.
  • sore: Usually people who are susceptible have minor, mild infections throughout their lives, commonly seen as cold sores.
  • snap: I'm loving this warm weather - the next cold snap will be a rude shock.

Used with adjective complement

  • feel: My hands didn't feel cold any more, which was a relief.
  • catch: Play began with a corner to Reading and Cardiff were caught cold as Ivar Ingimarsson nodded the visitors ahead in the 39th minute.
  • serve: This dish can also be served cold with salad.

Noun used with modifier

  • freezing: Some of the stuff we did in the workhouse at about 10 at night was freezing cold, too.
  • ice: Soaking the feet in cold water ( not ice cold ) for around 15 minutes can bring symptomatic temporary relief.

Preposition: in

  • winter: We have a lot of mountains, a lot of snow, it's very very cold in winter.
cold Quotes

I wanted to be black. I always wanted to be black† Being black iswarm and gay, being white is cold and sad.

—Rhys,Jean pseudonym of  Ellen Gwendolen Rees Williams

And said I that my limbs were old, And said I that my blood was cold, And that my kindly fire was fled, And my poor withered heart was dead, And that I might not sing of Love?

—Scott, Sir Walter

  If you strike a child take care that you strike it in anger, evenattheriskof maiming itfor life. A blow incold blood neither can nor should be forgiven.

—Shaw, George Bernard

'Ye can call it influenza if ye like,'said Mrs Machin.'There was no influenza in my young days.We called a cold a cold.'

—Bennett, (Enoch) Arnold

The Spy who Came in from the Cold.

—Le Carre¤  ,John pseudonym of  David John Moore Cornwell

What worlds delight, or joy of living speech Can heart, so plunged in sea of sorrows deep, And heape'  d with so huge misfortunes, reach? The careful cold beginneth for to creep, And in my heart his iron arrow steep, Soon as I think upon my bitter bale.

—Spenser, Edmund

Les livres sont des amis froids et s u" rs. Books are cold and certain friends.

—Hugo,Victor Marie

Coldöcold as truth, cold as life. No, nothing can be as cold as life.

—Rhys,Jean pseudonym of  Ellen Gwendolen Rees Williams

It was no summer progress. A cold coming they had of it, at this time of the year; just, the worst time of the year, to take a journey, and specially a long journey, in. The ways deep, the weather sharp, the days short, the sun farthest off in solstitio brumali, the very dead of winter. See Eliot 306:73.

—Andrewes, Lancelot

A cold coming we had of it, Just the worst time of the year For a journey, and such a long journey: The ways deep and the weather sharp, The very dead of winter.

—Eliot,T(homas) S(tearns)

I want to go south, where there is no autumn, where the cold doesn't crouch over one like a snow-leopard waiting to pounce. The heart of the North is dead, and the fingers of cold are corpse fingers.

—Lawrence, D(avid) H(erbert)

Spring, the sweet spring, is the year's pleasant king, Then blooms each thing, then maids dance in a ring, Cold doth not sting, the pretty birds do sing: Cuckoo, jug-jug, pu-we, to-witta-woo!

—Nashe,Thomas

Cold inthe earthöand the deepsnow piled abovethee, Far, far, removed, cold in the dreary grave! Have I forgot, my only Love, to love thee, Severed at last byTime's all-serving wave?

—Bronte«  , EmilyJane

And it isgood to cheat the pair, and gibe, Letting the rank tongue blossom into speech. Setebos, Setebos, and Setebos! Thinketh, He dwelleth i'the cold o'the moon. Thinketh He made it, with the sun to match, But not the stars; the stars came otherwise.

—Browning, Robert

The cold reaches of the universe must not become the new area of an even colder war.

—Kennedy,John F(itzgerald)

Came through cold roads to as cold news.

—Scott, Sir Walter

Lifeless in appearance, sluggish dazed spring approachesö They enter the new world naked, cold, uncertain of all save that they enter.

—Williams,William Carlos

Hatjesich einWeib,das sichgutbekleidet wusste, erk a« ltet? Has a woman who knew she was well dressed ever caught a cold?

—Nietzsche, FriedrichWilhelm

When Paris sneezes, Europe catches cold.

—Metternich, Prince Clemens Lothar Wenzel

She had a mannish manner of mind and face, able to feel hot and think cold.

—Cary, (Arthur) Joyce Lunel

   Back and side go bare, go bare, Both foot and hand go cold; But, belly,God send thee good ale enough, Whether it be new or old.

—Anonymous

Give them the cold steel, boys!

—Armistead, Lewis Addison

There is no looking-glass here and I don't know what I am like now. I remember watching myself brush my hair and how my eyes looked back at me. The girl I saw was myself and yet not quite myself. Long ago when I was a child and very lonely I tried to kiss her. But the glass was between usöhard, cold and misted over with my breath.Now they havetaken everything away.What am I doing in this place and who am I?

—Rhys,Jean pseudonym of  Ellen Gwendolen Rees Williams

Shall I tell you the signs of a New Age coming? It is a sound of drubbing and sobbing Of people crying,We are old, we are old And the sun isgoing down and becoming cold.

—Smith, Stevie (Florence Margaret)

  The only time it isn't good for you is when you write or when you fight.You have to do that cold.But it always helps my shooting. Modern life, too, is often a mechanical oppression and liquor is the only mechanical relief. 394

—Hemingway, Ernest Millar

   He has out-soared the shadow of our night; Envyand calumnyand hate and pain, And that unrest which men miscall delight, Can touch him not and torture not again; From the contagion of the world's slow stain He is secure, and now can never mourn A heart grown cold, a head grown grey in vain.

—Shelley, Percy Bysshe

Every drop of ink in my pen ran cold.

—Walpole, Horace, 4th Earl of Orford

She has made me in love with a cold climate, and frost and snow, with a northern moonlight.

—Southey, Robert

See, the curse of children! In life they keep us frequently in tears, And in the cold grave leave us in pale fears.

—Webster,John

And all that I could thinkof, in the darkness and the cold, Was just that I was leaving home and my folks were growing old.

—Stevenson, Robert Louis

It is a terrible thing, this kindness that human beings do not lose. Terrible because when we are finally naked in the dark and cold, it is all we have.

—Le Guin, Ursula ne¤  e Kroeber

I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth.

—Bible (NewTestament)

No worse than a bad cold.

—Marx, Harpo originally Adolf Marx

Now the nimble fingers are no more nimble, And the silver thimble lies cold and tarnished black.

—Sitwell, Sir (Francis) Osbert

Oh, no, no, no, it was too cold always (Still the dead one lay moaning) I was much too far out all my life And not waving but drowning.

—Smith, Stevie (Florence Margaret)

It was an ideal day for footballötoo cold for the spectators and too cold for the players.

—Smith, Red

Oh wert thou in the cauld blast, On yonder lea, on yonder lea; My plaidie to the angryairt, I'd shelter thee, I'd shelter thee.

—Burns, Robert

   I fear that I have not got much to sayabout Canada, not having seen much; what I got by going to Canada was a cold.

—Thoreau, Henry David

The way was long, the wind was cold, The Minstrel was infirm and old; His withered cheek, and tresses grey, Seemed to have known a better day; The harp, his sole remaining joy, Was carried byan orphan boy, The last of all the Bards was he, Who sung of Border chivalry.

—Scott, Sir Walter

Have you seen the bush by moonlight, from the train, go running by? Blackened log and stump and sapling, ghostly trees all dead and dry; Here a patch of glassy water; there a glimpse of mystic sky? Have you heard the still voice callingöyet so warm, and yet so cold: 'I'm the Mother-Bush that bore you! Come to me when you are old'?

—Lawson, Henry Hertzberg