cold

[kohld]

adjective

colder, coldest 

1. having a relatively low temperature; having little or no warmth.

   cold water; a cold day.

   Synonyms: freezing, frozen, gelid, frigid
   Antonyms: hot

2. feeling an uncomfortable lack of warmth; chilled.

   The skaters were cold.

3. having a temperature lower than the normal temperature of the human body.

   cold hands.

4. lacking in passion, emotion, enthusiasm, ardor, etc.; dispassionate.

   cold reason.

   Synonyms: imperturbable, unconcerned, cool, uninvolved, indifferent
   Antonyms: emotional, warm

5. not affectionate, cordial, or friendly; unresponsive.

   a cold reply; a cold reception.

   Synonyms: unfriendly, reserved, formal, polite, heartless, unfeeling, unsympathetic, apathetic, hostile, inimical

6. lacking sensual desire.

   She remained cold to his advances.

7. failing to excite feeling or interest.

   the cold precision of his prose.

   Synonyms: dull, uninspiring

8. unexcitable; imperturbable.

   cold impassivity.

   Synonyms: deliberate, calm

9. depressing; dispiriting.

   the cold atmosphere of a hospital waiting room.

10. unconscious because of a severe blow, shock, etc..

    I knocked him cold with an uppercut.

11. lacking the warmth of life; lifeless.

    When the doctor arrived, the body was already cold.

12. faint; weak.

    The dogs lost the cold scent.

13. (in games) distant from the object of search or the correct answer.

    Antonyms: warm

14. Slang.,  (in sports and games) not scoring or winning; ineffective.

    Cold shooting and poor rebounding were their undoing.

15. Art.

    1. having cool colors, especially muted tones tending toward grayish blue.

    2. being a cool color.

16. slow to absorb heat, as a soil containing a large amount of clay and hence retentive of moisture.

17. Metalworking.,  noting or pertaining to any process involving plastic deformation of a metal at a temperature below that at which recrystallization can occur because of the strain.

    cold working.

noun

1. the relative absence of heat.

   Everyone suffered from the intense cold.

2. the sensation produced by loss of heat from the body, as by contact with anything having a lower temperature than that of the body.

   He felt the cold of the steel door against his cheek.

3. cold weather.

   He can't take the cold.

4. Also called common cold. a respiratory disorder characterized by sneezing, sore throat, coughing, etc., caused by an allergic reaction or by a viral, bacterial, or mixed infection.

adverb

1. with complete competence, thoroughness, or certainty; absolutely.

   He learned his speech cold.

2. without preparation or prior notice.

   She had to play the lead role cold.

3. in an abrupt, unceremonious manner.

   He quit the job cold.

4. Metalworking.,  at a temperature below that at which recrystallization can occur (sometimes used in combination).

   to cold-hammer an iron bar; The wire was drawn cold.

cold

/ kəʊld /

adjective

1. having relatively little warmth; of a rather low temperature

   cold weather

   cold hands

2. without sufficient or proper warmth

   this meal is cold

3. lacking in affection, enthusiasm, or warmth of feeling

   a cold manner

4. not affected by emotion; objective

   cold logic

5. dead

6. sexually unresponsive or frigid

7. lacking in freshness

   a cold scent

   cold news

8. chilling to the spirit; depressing

9. (of a colour) having violet, blue, or green predominating; giving no sensation of warmth

10. metallurgy denoting or relating to a process in which work-hardening occurs as a result of the plastic deformation of a metal at too low a temperature for annealing to take place

11. (of a process) not involving heat, in contrast with traditional methods

    cold typesetting

    cold technology

12. informal,  (of a seeker) far from the object of a search

13. denoting the contacting of potential customers, voters, etc, without previously approaching them in order to establish their interest

    cold mailing

14. little or no comfort

15. the use of bayonets, knives, etc, in combat

16. without advance notice; without giving preparatory information

17. showing no passion; deliberately; ruthlessly

18. informal,  to fail to excite someone

    the performance left me cold

19. informal,  to be unenthusiastic about or discourage

noun

1. the absence of heat regarded as a positive force

   the cold took away our breath

2. the sensation caused by loss or lack of heat

3. informal,  neglected; ignored

4. an acute viral infection of the upper respiratory passages characterized by discharge of watery mucus from the nose, sneezing, etc

5. slang,  to make a loss; lose one's investment

adverb

1. informal,  without preparation

   he played his part cold

2. informal,  thoroughly; absolutely

   she turned him down cold

Other Word Forms

• coldish adjective
• coldly adverb
• coldness noun
• overcold adjective
• overcoldly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of cold¹

First recorded before 950; Middle English; Old English cald, ceald; cognate with Gothic kalds, Old Norse kaldr, German kalt, Dutch koud; akin to Latin gel- in gelidus gelid

Word History and Origins

Origin of cold¹

Old English ceald; related to Old Norse kaldr, Gothic kalds, Old High German kalt; see _cool

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. throw cold water on, to disparage; disapprove of; dampen the enthusiasm of.

   They threw cold water on her hopes to take acting classes.

2. catch / take cold, to get or suffer from a cold.

   We all caught cold during that dreadful winter.

3. in from the cold, out of a position or condition of exile, concealment, isolation, or alienation.

   Since the new government promised amnesty, fugitive rebels are coming in from the cold.

4. go cold, (in sports and games) to become unproductive or ineffective; be unable to score.

5. left out in the cold, neglected; ignored; forgotten: Also out in the cold.

   After the baby came, the young husband felt left out in the cold.

6. in cold blood. blood.

More idioms and phrases containing cold

• blow hot and cold
• catch cold
• come in from the cold
• in a cold sweat
• in cold blood
• in cold storage
• in the cold light of day
• knock out (cold)
• leave one cold
• make one's blood run cold
• out cold
• out in the cold
• pour cold water on
• stone cold
• stop cold

Synonym Study

Cold, chill, chilly, cool refer to various degrees of absence of heat. Cold refers to temperature possibly so low as to cause suffering: cold water. Chill suggests a penetrating cold which causes shivering and numbness: There was a chill wind blowing. Chilly is a weaker word, though it also connotes shivering and discomfort: a chilly room. Cool means merely somewhat cold, not warm: cool and comfortable. All have figurative uses.

Example Sentences

It will turn colder here, perhaps even cold enough for some wintriness over the very tops of the Scottish mountains by the weekend.

From BBC

The teacher was said to have remarked that there "was something so cold" in his response, the inquiry heard.

From BBC

Upwellings occur when winds push warmer surface waters from the coastline out to sea, allowing colder, nutrient-rich waters from deeper in the ocean to rise up and take their place.

From Los Angeles Times

"We tried to sleep anywhere, really. It was really cold. There were people who found packaged bread, heated it up in the microwave, hugging it throughout the night."

From BBC

Cream-based dips can get coagulated in the heat and stiff in the cold, especially if you don’t have a portable heating device, so a neutral mixed bean dip is definitely the way to go.

From Salon

Related Words

• bitter 
• bleak 
• brisk 
• chilled 
• cool 
• crisp 
• frigid 
• frosty 
• frozen 
• icy 
• intense 
• raw 
• snowy 
• wintry 

When To Use

What is a basic definition of cold?

Cold is an adjective that describes something that lacks heat or has a low temperature. Cold also describes someone as being unemotional or detached. As a noun, cold often refers to a respiratory illness that involves sneezing and congestion. The word cold has many other senses as an adjective, noun, and adverb.If something is cold, it lacks heat or has a low temperature. For example, cold water would have a temperature that approaches 0 degrees Celsius or Fahrenheit. A cold steak is one that hasn’t been cooked (heated) or one that has just emerged from a freezer. Cold is the opposite of hot.In a related sense, the word cold is used to describe the feeling you have when you lack heat or are exposed to freezing conditions that remove heat from you. This feeling often involves involuntary behavior such as shivering, getting goosebumps, teeth chattering, or skin turning blue.

• Real-life examples: Ice cubes, snow, and the North Pole are examples of things that are cold. Sticking your hand into a bucket of ice water will make you feel really cold. In the Northern Hemisphere, the winter months of December, January, and February are when the weather and air get really cold.



• Used in a sentence:
  
  
  
  
  
  • I put on a jacket and gloves because it was really cold outside.
  
  
  
  • He turned up the thermostat after his mother said she was cold. 
  
  
  

Related to this sense, cold can mean a lack of heat or cold weather (usually in the form of “the cold”).

• Used in a sentence: I couldn’t handle the extreme cold of the lake.

The word cold can also describe someone as being aloof, unemotional, or unwelcoming. This sense of cold is often used negatively to accuse a person of being cruel, uncaring, merciless, or lacking empathy.

• Used in a sentence: He was a cold man who rarely ever smiled. 

As a noun, cold is frequently used to mean a respiratory illness that involves sneezing and congestion, often referred to as “a common cold.” When used in this sense, a person is said to have “a cold” rather than “the cold.” Colds are rarely serious. They usually involve several days of congestion in your nose or lungs, a runny nose, coughing, sneezing, or similar, minor respiratory problems.

• Used in a sentence: Jade was sneezing all day at work today because she had a cold.