• Cold

    Pronunciation

    • UK IPA: /kəʊld/, /kɔʊld/
    • US enPR: kōld, IPA: /koÊŠld/
      • also IPA: /klÌ©d/
    • Homophones: coaled
    • Rhymes: -əʊld

    Origin

    From Middle English cold, from Old English cald, ċeald ("cold"), from Proto-Germanic *kaldaz, a participle form of *kalaną ("to be cold"), from Proto-Indo-European *gel- ("cold"). Cognate with Scots cald, cauld ("cold"), West Frisian kâld ("cold"), Dutch koud ("cold"), Low German kold, koolt, koold ("cold"), German kalt ("cold"), Danish kold ("cold"), Norwegian Bokmål kald ("cold"), Swedish kall ("cold").

    Full definition of cold

    Adjective

    cold

    1. (of a thing) Having a low temperature.A cold wind whistled through the trees.
      • Wodehouse Offing|V|I had always supposed that playboys didn't give a hoot for anything except blondes and cold bottles.
    2. (of the weather) Causing the air to be cold.The forecast is that it will be very cold today.
    3. (of a person or animal) Feeling the sensation of coldness, especially to the point of discomfort.She was so cold she was shivering.
    4. Unfriendly, emotionally distant or unfeeling.She shot me a cold glance before turning her back.
      • 2011 April 23, Doctor Who, series 6, episode 1, The Impossible Astronaut:RIVER SONG (upon seeing the still-living DOCTOR, moments after he made her and two other friends watch what they thought was his death): This is cold. Even by your standards, this is cold.
      • Wodehouse Offing|VII|“Suppose someone pops in?” “Don't be silly. Mrs Cream is working on her book. Phyllis is in her room, typing Upjohn's speech. Wilbert's gone for a walk. Upjohn isn't here. The only character who could pop in would be the Brinkley Court ghost. If it does, give it a cold look and walk through it. That'll teach it not to come butting in where it isn't wanted, ha ha.”
    5. Dispassionate, not prejudiced or partisan, impartial.Let's look at this tomorrow with a cold head.He's a nice guy, but the cold facts say we should fire him.The cold truth is that states rarely undertake military action unless their national interests are at stake.
    6. Completely unprepared; without introduction.He was assigned cold calls for the first three months.
    7. Unconscious or deeply asleep; deprived of the metaphorical heat associated with life or consciousness.I knocked him out cold.After one more beer he passed out cold.
    8. (usually with "have" or "know" transitively) Perfectly, exactly, completely; by heart.Practice your music scales until you know them cold.Try both these maneuvers until you have them cold and can do them in the dark without thinking.Rehearse your lines until you have them down cold.Keep that list in front of you, or memorize it cold.
    9. (usually with "have" transitively) Cornered, done for.With that receipt, we have them cold for fraud.Criminal interrogation. Initially they will dream up explanations faster than you could ever do so, but when they become fatigued, often they will acknowledge that you have them cold.
      • Wodehouse Offing|XIX|“Either Upjohn agrees to drop that libel suit or he doesn't get these notes, as he calls them, and without them he won't be able to utter a word. He'll have to come across with the price of the papers. Won't he, Jeeves?” “He would appear to have no alternative, miss.” “Unless he wants to get up on that platform and stand there opening and shutting his mouth like a goldfish. We've got him cold.”
    10. (obsolete) Not pungent or acrid.
      • Francis Baconcold plants
    11. (obsolete) Unexciting; dull; uninteresting.
      • Ben JonsonWhat a deal of cold business doth a man misspend the better part of life in!
      • AddisonThe jest grows cold ... when it comes on in a second scene.
    12. Affecting the sense of smell (as of hunting dogs) only feebly; having lost its odour.a cold scent
    13. (obsolete) Not sensitive; not acute.
      • ShakespeareSmell this business with a sense as cold
        As is a dead man's nose.
    14. Distant; said, in the game of hunting for some object, of a seeker remote from the thing concealed. Compare warm and hot.You're cold... getting warmer... hot! You've found it!
    15. (painting) Having a bluish effect; not warm in colour.

    Synonyms

    Antonyms

    Derived terms

    Terms derived from the adjective cold

    Noun

    cold

    (plural colds)
    1. A condition of low temperature.Come in, out of the cold.
    2. (medicine) A common, usually harmless, viral illness, usually with congestion of the nasal passages and sometimes fever.I caught a miserable cold and had to stay home for a week.

    Synonyms

    Derived terms

    Terms derived from the noun cold

    Coordinate terms

    Adverb

    cold

    1. While at low temperature.''The steel was processed cold.
    2. Without preparation.The speaker went in cold and floundered for a topic.
    3. With finality.I knocked him out cold.

    Anagrams

    © Wiktionary
    • © 2013 - 2023 All Rights Reserved