cold meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

cold

adj

UK /kəʊld/ · US /koʊld/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English cold, from Anglian Old English cald. The West Saxon form, ċeald (“cold”), survived as early Middle English cheald, cheld, or chald. Both descended from Proto-West Germanic *kald, from Proto-Germanic *kaldaz (“cold”), a participle form of *kalaną (“to be cold, to freeze”), from Proto-Indo-European *gel- (“to be cold, to freeze”). Cognates Cognate with Scots cauld (“cold”), Saterland Frisian koold (“cold”), West Frisian kâld (“cold”), Alemannic German chalt, choalt, cholt, chélte (“cold”), Bavarian ckolt, kholt, koid, kòlt (“cold”), Central Franconian kalt (“cold”), Cimbrian kalt, khalt (“cold”), Dutch koud (“cold”), German kalt (“cold”), Low German kold, koolt (“cold”), Luxembourgish kal (“cold”), Mòcheno khòlt, kòlt (“cold”), Vilamovian kāłt (“cold”), Yiddish קאַלט (kalt, “cold”), Danish kold (“cold”), Faroese and Icelandic kaldur (“cold”), Norwegian Bokmål kald (“cold”), Norwegian Nynorsk kald, kald’u (“cold”), Swedish kall (“cold”), Gothic 𐌺𐌰𐌻𐌳𐍃 (kalds, “cold”); also Latin gelū, gelum, gelus (“frost; chill, cold”), Belarusian хо́лад (xólad, “cold”), Bulgarian хлад (hlad, “chill, coolness”), Czech chlad (“cold”), Macedonian лад (lad, “shade; coolness”), Polish chłód (“cold”), Russian and Ukrainian хо́лод (xólod, “cold”), Serbo-Croatian хла̑д, hlȃd (“shade”), Sanskrit जड (jaḍa, “cold; stiff”), जल (jala, “water”). Related to cool.

22 senses

1Having a low temperature.
2Causing the air to be cold.
3Feeling the sensation of coldness, especially to the…
4Unfriendly; emotionally distant or unfeeling.
5Chilled, filled with an uncomfortable sense of fear…
6Dispassionate; not prejudiced or partisan; impartial.
7Completely unprepared; without introduction.
8Unconscious or deeply asleep; deprived of the…
9Perfectly, exactly, completely; by heart; down pat.
10Cornered; done for.
11Cool, impressive.
12Not pungent or acrid.
13Unexciting; dull; uninteresting.
14Affecting the sense of smell (as of hunting dogs) only…
15Not sensitive; not acute.
16Distant; said, in the game of hunting for some object…
17Having a bluish effect; not warm in colour.
18Rarely used or accessed, and thus able to be relegated…
19Without compassion; heartless; ruthless.
20Not radioactive.
21Not loaded with a round of live ammunition.
22Without electrical power being supplied.

Of a thing Having a low temperature.

A cold wind whistled through the trees.
As cold waters to a thirstie soule: so is good newes from a farre countrey.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Proverbs 25:25:

2 more examples

Oh cold, cold, rigid, dreadful Death, set up thine altar here, and dress it with such terrors as thou hast at thy command: for this is thy dominion!1843 December 19, Charles Dickens, “Stave Four. The Last of the Spirits.”, in A Christmas Carol. […], London: Chapman & Hall, […], →OCLC, page 137:
I had always supposed that playboys didn't give a hoot for anything except blondes and cold bottles.1960, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, chapter V, in Jeeves in the Offing, London: Herbert Jenkins, →OCLC:

Of the weather Causing the air to be cold.

The forecast is that it will be very cold today.
As fruits of hotter countries, transearthed in colder climates, have vigour enough in themselves to be fructuous according to their nature: but, that they are hindered by the chilling nips of the air, and the soil, wherein they are planted.1904, Owen Felltham, William Henry Oliphant Smeaton, Resolves:

2 more examples

Antarctica is the coldest, iciest place on Earth, which makes the recent warming event particularly worrying for many scientists. […] Larter said this happens less frequently in the East Antarctic because the ocean water there is much colder.2022 March 25, Rachel Ramirez and Hafsa Khalil, “Antarctic ice shelf nearly the size of Los Angeles collapsed as temperatures soared to 40 above normal”, in CNN:
The current high temperature expected for Kansas City on Saturday is around 5 degrees, according to the National Weather Service, which would be the coldest high temperature on record in the area for the date, according to CNN Weather. […] But could it become cold enough for officials to cancel the showdown between the Chiefs and Dolphins?2024 January 13, Ashley R. Williams, “NFL moves Pittsburgh at Buffalo playoff game to Monday due to winter storm, Miami at Kansas City is still on for tonight”, in CNN:

Of a person or animal Feeling the sensation of coldness, especially to the point of discomfort.

She was so cold she was shivering.

Unfriendly; emotionally distant or unfeeling.

She shot me a cold glance before turning her back.
At the end of a week, she could bear the suspense no longer, and so went humbly to her old home and sought forgiveness. She was not repulsed, but her reception was cold; and this hurt her almost as badly.1850, T. S. Arthur, “Happy on a Little”, in Sketches of Life and Character, Philadelphia: J. W. Bradley, →OCLC, page 89:

1 more example

"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."1960, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, chapter VII, in Jeeves in the Offing, London: Herbert Jenkins, →OCLC:

Chilled, filled with an uncomfortable sense of fear, dread, or alarm.

Yet oft when sundown skirts the moor ⁠An inner trouble I behold, ⁠A spectral doubt which makes me cold, That I shall be thy mate no more, […]1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto XL”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 63:

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.

1 more example

The cold truth is that states rarely undertake military action unless their national interests are at stake.

Completely unprepared; without introduction.

He was assigned cold calls for the first three months.
The one thing considered the brass ring in selling insurance was making a sale on a cold canvass. Cold canvassing was the most dreaded exercise for most insurance salesmen.2019, Kelly D. Harrison, Air Force Cop: An Autobiography, page 100:

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.

1 more example

Before Mr Big could utter another word, Dad’s false leg crashed down through the window… …and the wooden foot bashed Mr Big hard on the head. The crime boss collapsed to the floor, out cold.2017, David Walliams [pseudonym; David Edward Williams], Bad Dad, London: HarperCollins Children’s Books, →ISBN:

Usually, With "have" or "know" transitively Perfectly, exactly, completely; by heart; down pat.

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.

2 more examples

Rehearse your lines until you have them down cold.
Keep that list in front of you, or memorize it cold.

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.

1 more example

"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."1960, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, chapter XIX, in Jeeves in the Offing, London: Herbert Jenkins, →OCLC:

Slang Cool, impressive.

There were more than a few unforgettable moments from Sunday's Game 7 showdown between the Golden State Warriors and the Sacramento Kings. Steph Curry came up with an epic performance on a record-setting evening, and he also produced one of the coldest photos of the NBA Playoffs thus far.2023 May 1, Paolo Songco, “Warriors star Steph Curry's cold 'night night' pic vs. Kings goes completely viral”, in ClutchPoints, archived from the original on 30 May 2023:
Lowkey she so cold for that2023 August 3, @67x4L, Twitter, archived from the original on 09 Nov 2023:

1 more example

Indians see this fit and think it's the coldest thing ever2023 August 6, @SUPERTHYROID, Twitter, archived from the original on 08 Nov 2023:

Obsolete Not pungent or acrid.

cold plants1627 (indicated as 1626), Francis [Bacon], “(please specify the page, or |century=I to X)”, in Sylua Syluarum: Or A Naturall Historie. In Ten Centuries. […], London: […] William Rawley […]; [p]rinted by J[ohn] H[aviland] for William Lee […], →OCLC:

Obsolete Unexciting; dull; uninteresting.

What a deal of cold business doth a man misspend the better part of life in!1641, Ben Jonson, Discoveries Made upon Men and Matter:
The jest grows cold[…]when it comes on in a second scene.1705, J[oseph] Addison, Remarks on Several Parts of Italy, &c. in the Years 1701, 1702, 1703, London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:

Affecting the sense of smell (as of hunting dogs) only feebly; having lost its odour.

a cold scent

Obsolete Not sensitive; not acute.

Smell this business with a sense as cold / As is a dead man's nose.c. 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Winters Tale”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i]:

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!

Having a bluish effect; not warm in colour.

Computing, Databases, Engineering, Mathematics, Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Sciences Rarely used or accessed, and thus able to be relegated to slower storage.

Informal Without compassion; heartless; ruthless.

I can't believe she said that...that was cold!
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.2011 April 23, The Impossible Astronaut (Doctor Who), season series 6, episode 1:

1 more example

"At the risk of sounding cold though, I'm glad he's gone. His abandonment left me in Aunt Fara's custody, and that's honestly the best thing he's ever done for me."2015, Jocelyn Samara D., Rain, volume 3, page 237:

Informal Not radioactive.

"That's right," Jackson said. "The Old Man will be pleased to welcome you." There was eagerness in his reedy voice. "What do you say? We'll take care of you. Feed you, bring you cold plants and animals. For a week maybe?"1953, Philip K. Dick, “Planet for Transients”, in Fantastic Universe magazine, number Oct-Nov 1953, page 64:

Engineering, Firearms, Government, Military, Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Politics, Tools, War, Weaponry Not loaded with a round of live ammunition.

Without electrical power being supplied.

Therefore, to avoid unnecessary delay in the trouble-shooting procedure, it is good practice to make a resistance check on a "cold" circuit (before applying power), to determine whether resistance values are normal.1956, Philco Corporation, Handbook of Test Methods and Practices, page 3–3:

Synonyms: 30 terms
algid, Arctic, Baltic, boreal, brass monkeys, brumal, chill, chilled, chilly, clay-cold, cold, cold as a mackerel, cold as charity, freezing, frosty, frore, frozen, gelid, glacial, hiemal, icy, inclement, nesh, nippy, parky, polar, sleety, snowy, taters, wintry
Antonyms: hot, warm
Derived terms: 239 terms
acold, a cold day in July, anticold, blow hot and cold, bright lights and cold steel, cold steel and bright lights, bring someone out in a cold sweat, bust ass cold, clap cold, clay-cold, cold abscess, cold agglutinin disease, cold antibody, cold approach, cold-aridiphilous, cold as a mackerel, cold as a wagon tire, cold as a well-digger's arse, cold as a witch's kiss, cold as a witch's tit, cold as a witch's teat, cold as a witch's tit in a brass bra, cold as balls, cold as charity, cold as death, Cold Ash, Cold Ashton, cold as ice, cold as the grave, cold-avoidant, cold avoidant, cold-back, cold back, coldbeer, cold biscuit, cold blob, cold blood, cold-blooded, Cold Blow, cold boot, cold boot attack, cold brew, cold-brew coffee, cold brew coffee, cold call, cold camera, cold cap, cold capping, cold carl, cold case, cold cash, cold-cathode, cold cathode, cold-cathode fluorescent lamp, cold-cathode lamp, cold-cathode light, cold-cathode tube, cold chain, cold chills, cold chips, cold chisel, Cold Christmas, coldcock, cold-cock, cold cock, cold coffee, cold collation, cold comfort, cold-conk, cold cook, cold cream, cold cut, cold cuts, cold-cuts, cold dark matter, cold day in Hell, cold deck, cold dish, cold-drawn, cold drink money, cold drop, cold duck, cold-email, cold email, cold emailing, cold empathy, colden, cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey, cold extraction, cold-eyed, cold feet, cold finger, cold fire, cold fish, cold flour, cold flow, cold food powder, cold forming, cold frame, cold front, cold fusion, cold gruel, cold hand, cold hands, warm heart, cold hard cash, cold hardy, cold-hearted, Cold Hiendley, coldhouse, coldie, cold in one's grave, cold iron, coldish, Cold Kirby, Cold Lake, cold launch, cold light, coldlike, cold-livered, coldly, cold meat, cold meat box, cold meat cart, cold meat train, Cold Meece, cold moon, cold-natured, coldness, Cold Norton, cold one, cold open, cold pack, cold patch, cold pig, cold pole, cold-press, cold press, cold-pressed, cold prickly, coldproof, cold rain process, cold read, cold reading, cold roll, cold rubber, cold saw, cold sell, cold shoe, cold-short, cold short, coldshoulder, cold-shoulder, cold shoulder, cold shoulder sleeve, cold shower, cold-shut, cold shut, coldsleep, cold sleep, cold sleeper, cold-smoked salmon, cold smoking, cold snap, cold sober, coldsome, cold spell, cold spot, Coldspring, Cold Spring, cold start, cold steel, cold storage, cold store, cold sweat, cold tail, cold tap, cold transfer, cold trap, coldtrap, cold treatment, cold trot, cold turkey, cold ulcer, cold wallet, cold war, coldward, Cold Warrior, cold warrior, coldwater, coldwater flat, cold-water flat, cold water flat, cold wave, coldwave, cold weapon, cold weld, cold welding, cold without, coldwork, cold work, coldworking, cold working, Colombian cold, Coniston Cold, encolden, finger-cold, freezing cold, my cold, dead hands, get cold feet, give someone the cold shoulder, go down like a cup of cold sick, grow cold, have no fear of ice cold beer, hot and cold, icecold, ice-cold, ice cold, in cold blood, in the cold light of day, is your head cold, key-cold, leave someone cold, noncold, one-cold, one's blood runs cold, overcold, pole of cold, pour cold water on, pour cold water over, revenge is a dish best served cold, run hot and cold, stone-cold fox, stone-cold sober, stonecold, stone-cold, stone cold, supercold, throw cold water on, ultracold
Related terms: cold snap, frigidization, Jack Frost, one-dog night, shivering, three-dog night, wind chill
Hyponyms: brisk, cool, crisp, drafty, benumbed, bitter, bleak, bone-chilling, cold as ice, cold as a well-digger's arse, cold as a witch's kiss, cold as a witch's teat, cold as a witch's tit, cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey, frigid
Coordinate terms: tepid, lukewarm

cold

noun

Etymology Inherited from Middle English cold, colde, from Old English cald, ċeald (“cold, coldness”), from Proto-West Germanic *kald, from Proto-Germanic *kaldą (“coldness”), from Proto-Indo-European *gel- (“cold”). Cognates Cognate with Saterland Frisian Keelde (“cold”), West Frisian kjeld (“cold”), Dutch koude (“cold”), German Low German Kolle, Koll (“cold”), German Kälte (“cold”), Danish kulde (“cold”), Swedish köld (“cold”), Norwegian kulde (“cold”), Icelandic kuldi (“cold”).

A condition of low temperature.

Come in, out of the cold.

Figuratively, With 'the' A harsh place; a place of abandonment.

The former politician was left out in the cold after his friends deserted him.

Medicine, Pathology, Sciences A common, usually harmless, usually 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
Dr. Jon S. Abramson, a pediatric infectious disease expert at Wake Forest Medical School, has found no medical evidence to support feeding a cold and starving a fever. He is particularly offended by the latter part of the phrase. […] “Always feed both colds and fevers,” Abramson said.2016 September 16, Hailey Middlebrook, “Should you really feed a cold and starve a fever?”, in CNN:

Slang Rheum; sleepy dust.

Who the fuck is this, pagin' me at 5:46 in the morning? / crack of dawn and now I'm yawnin' / wipe the cold out my eye, see who's this pagin' me and why1994, Notorious B.I.G., Warning:
But I remember this, moms would lick her finger tips / to wipe the cold out my eye before school with her spit1996, Ghostface Killah, All That I Got Is You:

Synonyms: coldness, common cold, coryza, head cold, pose
Derived terms: bitter cold, catch a cold, catch cold, catch one's death of cold, chest cold, cold allergy, cold-sensitive, cold shock response, cold sore, cold urticaria, cold virus, come in from the cold, common cold, head cold, in from the cold, leave someone out in the cold, paroxysmal cold hemoglobinuria, rose cold, take cold
Coordinate terms: freeze, frost

cold

adv

Etymology Inherited from Middle English colde, from Old English calde, ċealde (“coldly”), from the adjective (see above).

At a low temperature.

The steel was processed cold.

Without preparation.

The speaker went in cold and floundered for a topic.
Two weeks after it closed, he started rehearsals for Cheer Up, a new play by Mary Roberts Rinehart booked into the Harris Theatre. It was to open cold without any out-of-town tryout under the direction of a young Cecil B. DeMille […]2008, Geddeth Smith, Walter Hampden: Dean of the American Theatre, page 104:

Dated, Informal, Slang In a cold, frank, or realistically honest manner.

Now Little Bo Peep cold lost her sheep / And Rip van Winkle fell the hell asleep1986, Run-DMC, Peter Piper.:

Derived terms: cut someone cold, down cold, out cold, stop cold
Related terms: cool, fresh, lukewarm, tepid