cold

cold

I. cold¹ S1 W1 /kəʊld $ koʊld/ BrE AmE adjective (comparative colder, superlative coldest)
[Language: Old English; Origin: ceald, cald]
1. OBJECTS/SURFACES/LIQUIDS/ROOMS something that is cold has a low temperature OPP hot ⇨ coldness:
She splashed her face with cold water.
a blast of cold air
We slept on the cold ground.
The house felt cold and empty.
ice/stone/freezing cold (=very cold)
The radiator is stone cold; isn’t the heating working?
go/get cold (=become cold)
My tea’s gone cold.
Come and eat or your dinner will get cold!
2. WEATHER when there is cold weather, the temperature of the air is very low OPP hot ⇨ coldness:
It was so cold this morning I had to scrape the ice off my windshield.
The day was bitterly cold.
The hut sheltered her from the cold wind.
cold winter/evening/January etc
the coldest winter on record
cold out/outside
It was raining and freezing cold outside.
The weather gets colder around the middle of October.
turn/grow cold (=become cold or colder, especially suddenly)
The nights grew colder.
3. be/feel/look/get cold if you are cold, your body is at a low temperature:
Could you turn up the heater, I’m cold.
I feel so cold!
My feet are as cold as ice (=very cold).
4. FOOD cold food is cooked but not eaten hot:
a plate of cold meats
a cold buffet
Serve the potatoes cold.
5. LACKING FEELING unfriendly or lacking normal human feelings such as sympathy, pity, humour etc OPP warm ⇨ coldly, coldness:
Martin was really cold towards me at the party.
His voice was as cold as ice.
She gave him a cold stare.
a cold calculated murder
6. get/have cold feet informal to suddenly feel that you are not brave enough to do something you planned to do:
The plan failed after sponsors got cold feet.
7. give somebody the cold shoulder informal to deliberately ignore someone or be unfriendly to them, especially because they have upset or offended you
8. LIGHT/COLOUR a cold colour or light reminds you of things that are cold OPP warm ⇨ coldness:
the cold light of a fluorescent tube
9. in the cold light of day in the morning, when you can think clearly or see something clearly:
The house seemed less threatening in the cold light of day.
10. cold (hard) cash American English money in the form of paper money and coins rather than cheques or ↑credit cards
11. leave somebody cold to not feel interested in or affected by something in any way:
Opera left him cold.
12. take/need a cold shower used humorously to say that someone is sexually excited and the cold water will stop them feeling that way
13. sb’s trail/scent is cold used to say that you cannot find someone because it has been too long since they passed or lived in a particular place:
I tracked the boy as far as the factory, but there his trail went cold.
14. IN GAMES [not before noun] used in children’s games, to say that someone is far away from the hidden object or answer they are trying to find:
You’re getting colder!
15. cold facts facts without anything added to make them more pleasant or interesting:
Statistics can be merely cold facts.
16. cold steel literary a weapon such as a knife or sword
⇨ in cold blood at ↑blood¹(3), ⇨ cold fish at ↑fish¹(8), ⇨ blow hot and cold at ↑blow¹(21), ⇨ cold comfort at ↑comfort¹(7), ⇨ pour cold water over/on at ↑pour(6), ⇨ a cold sweat at ↑sweat²(4)
• • •
COLLOCATIONS (for Meaning 2)
■ cold + NOUN
▪ cold weather More cold weather is expected later this week.
▪ a cold night/day It was a cold night with a starlit sky.
▪ a cold winter A cold winter will increase oil consumption.
▪ a cold wind A cold wind was blowing from the north.
▪ a cold spell (=a period of cold weather, especially a short one) We’re currently going through a bit of a cold spell.
▪ a cold snap (=a short period of very cold weather) There had been a sudden cold snap just after Christmas.
■ adverbs
▪ freezing/icy cold Take your gloves – it’s freezing cold out there.
▪ bitterly cold (=very cold) The winter of 1921 was bitterly cold.
▪ unusually/exceptionally cold a period of unusually cold weather
▪ quite/pretty cold It’s going to be quite cold today.
▪ cold out/outside It’s too cold out – I’m staying at home.
■ verbs
▪ become cold (also get cold informal) In my country, it never really gets cold.
▪ turn/grow cold (=become cold, especially suddenly) The birds fly south before the weather turns cold.
• • •
THESAURUS
■ person
▪ cold used especially when you feel uncomfortable: I’m cold – can I borrow a sweater?
▪ cool a little cold, especially in a way that feels comfortable: The air-conditioning keeps everyone cool.
▪ freezing (cold) spoken very cold and very uncomfortable: You look absolutely freezing!
▪ shivery cold and unable to stop shivering, especially because you are ill: I felt shivery and had a headache.
■ weather
▪ cold used especially when you feel uncomfortable: It gets very cold here in the winter.
▪ cool a little cold, often in a way that feels comfortable: It’s very hot in the day, but cooler at night. | a nice cool breeze
▪ chilly a little cold, but not very cold, in a way that feels rather uncomfortable: a chilly autumn day | It’s a bit chilly.
▪ freezing (cold) spoken very cold and very uncomfortable: It’s freezing outside.
▪ bitterly cold very cold and very uncomfortable: It can be bitterly cold in the mountains.
▪ icy (cold) very cold, especially when the temperature is below zero: The wind was icy cold.
▪ crisp cold, dry, and clear, in a way that seems pleasant: I love these crisp autumn mornings.
▪ frosty in frosty weather, the ground is covered in a frozen white powder: It was a bright frosty morning.
▪ arctic extremely cold and unpleasant, with snow and ice: He would not survive for long in the arctic conditions. | arctic weather
■ room
▪ cold used especially when you feel uncomfortable: It’s cold in here.
▪ cool a little cold, especially in a way that feels comfortable: Let’s go inside where it’s cool.
▪ freezing (cold) spoken very cold: I had to sleep in a freezing cold room.
▪ draughty British English, drafty American English /ˈdrɑːfti $ ˈdræfti/ with cold air blowing in from outside, in a way that feels uncomfortable: Old houses can be very draughty.
■ food, liquid, or something you touch
▪ cold: The water’s too cold for swimming. | a cold stone floor
▪ cool a little cold, especially in a way that seems pleasant: a nice cool drink | cool white sheets
▪ freezing (cold) very cold: His friends pulled him from the freezing water.
▪ chilled food and drinks that are chilled have been deliberately made cold: a bottle of chilled champagne
▪ frozen kept at a temperature which is below zero: frozen peas

II. cold² BrE AmE noun
1. [countable] a common illness that makes it difficult to breathe through your nose and often makes your throat hurt:
I’ve got a bad cold.
Keep your feet dry so you don’t catch a cold. ⇨ ↑common cold
2. [uncountable] (also the cold) a low temperature or cold weather:
I was shivering with cold.
Don’t go out in the cold without your coat!
you’ll catch your death of cold British English (=used to warn someone that they may become very ill if they do not keep themselves warm in cold weather)
3. come in from the cold to become accepted or recognized, especially by a powerful group of people
4. leave somebody out in the cold informal to not include someone in an activity:
He chose to favour us one at a time and the others were left out in the cold.
• • •
COLLOCATIONS
■ verbs
▪ have (got) a cold She’s staying at home today because she’s got a cold.
▪ be getting a cold (=be starting to have a cold) I think I might be getting a cold.
▪ catch a cold (=start to have one) I caught a cold and had to miss the match.
▪ come down with a cold (also go down with a cold British English) informal (=catch one) A lot of people go down with colds at this time of year.
▪ be suffering from a cold formal (=have one) He was suffering from a cold and not his usual energetic self.
▪ suffer from colds formal (=have colds) Some people suffer from more colds than others.
■ ADJECTIVES/NOUN + cold
▪ a bad cold If you have a bad cold, just stay in bed.
▪ a nasty cold (also a heavy cold British English) (=a bad one) He sounded as if he had a heavy cold.
▪ a streaming cold British English (=in which a lot of liquid comes from your nose) You shouldn’t go to work if you’ve got a streaming cold.
▪ a slight cold It’s only a slight cold – I’ll be fine tomorrow.
▪ a chest cold (=affecting your chest) He’s coughing all the time with a bad chest cold.
▪ a head cold (=affecting your nose and head) A bad head cold can sometimes feel like flu.
▪ the common cold formal There are hundreds of viruses that cause the common cold.
III. cold³ BrE AmE adverb
1. American English suddenly and completely:
Paul stopped cold. ‘What was that noise?’
2. out cold informal unconscious:
He drank until he was out cold.
You were knocked out cold (=hit on the head so that you became unconscious).
3. without preparation:
I can’t just get up there and make a speech cold!