cold

2 (plural colds) a common illness of the nose and throat. When you have a cold, you often cannot breathe through your nose and your throat hurts:
I've got a cold.
Come in out of the rain, or you'll catch a cold

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English

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!

Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

noun

LOW TEMPERATURE
1. uncountable a lack of heat or warmth; a low temperature, especially in the atmosphere
• He shivered with cold.
• Don't stand outside in the cold.
• She doesn't seem to feel the cold.

• You'll catch your death of cold (= used to warn sb they could become ill if they do not keep warm in cold weather).

ILLNESS

2. countable (also less frequent the ˌcommon ˈcold) a common illness that affects the nose and/or throat, making you cough, sneeze, etc
• I've got a cold.
• a bad/heavy/slight cold
• to catch a cold
more at catch your death (of cold) at catch _v.
Word Origin:
Old English cald, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch koud and German kalt, also to Latin gelu ‘frost’.
Collocations:
Illnesses
Becoming ill
catch a cold/an infectious disease/the flu/(BrE) flu/pneumonia/a virus/(informal) a bug
get (BrE) ill/(NAmE) sick/a disease/AIDS/breast cancer/a cold/the flu/(BrE) flu/a migraine
come down with a cold/the flu/(BrE) flu
contract a deadly disease/a serious illness/HIV/AIDS
be infected with a virus/a parasite/HIV
develop cancer/diabetes/a rash/an ulcer/symptoms of hepatitis
have a heart attack/a stroke
provoke/trigger/produce an allergic reaction
block/burst/rupture a blood vessel
damage/sever a nerve/an artery/a tendon
Being ill
feel (BrE) ill/sick/nauseous/queasy
be running (BrE) a temperature/(NAmE) a fever
have a head cold/diabetes/heart disease/lung cancer/a headache/(BrE) a high temperature/(NAmE) a fever
suffer from asthma/malnutrition/frequent headaches/bouts of depression/a mental disorder
be laid up with/ (BrE) be in bed with a cold/the flu/(BrE) flu/a migraine
nurse a cold/a headache/a hangover
battle/fight cancer/depression/addiction/alcoholism
Treatments
examine a patient
diagnose a condition/disease/disorder
be diagnosed with cancer/diabetes/schizophrenia
prescribe/be given/be on/take drugs/medicine/medication/pills/painkillers/antibiotics
treat sb for cancer/depression/shock
have/undergo an examination/an operation/surgery/a kidney transplant/therapy/chemotherapy/treatment for cancer
have/be given an injection/(BrE) a flu jab/(NAmE) a flu shot/a blood transfusion/a scan/an X-ray
cure a disease/an ailment/cancer/a headache/a patient
prevent the spread of disease/further outbreaks/damage to the lungs
be vaccinated against the flu/(BrE) flu/the measles/(BrE) measles/polio/smallpox
enhance/boost/confer/build immunity to a disease
Example Bank:
• He stood out in the cold and waited.
• He took cold, developed pneumonia, and that was the end of him.
• I don't feel the cold as badly as many people.
• I must have caught a cold on the bus.
• If you stay out in the rain you'll catch cold!
• Jim stayed at home because he was nursing a cold.
• Millions of ordinary workers feel left out in the cold by the shift to digital technology.
• My hands were blue with cold.
• She won her match despite suffering from a heavy cold.
• The house has double glazing to keep out the cold.
• We were well wrapped up against the cold.
• When the coalition was formed the Liberals were left out in the cold.
• When will they find a cure for the common cold?
• Don't stand outside in the cold.

• She doesn't seem to feel the cold.

Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary

Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary - 4th Edition

cold / kəʊld / / koʊld / noun [ C ] (ILLNESS)

A2 a common infection, especially in the nose and throat, that often causes a cough, a slight fever, and sometimes some pain in the muscles:

I've got a cold.

She caught a cold at school.

UK informal Don't come near me - I've got a stinking/streaming cold (= extremely bad cold) .

cold / kəʊld / / koʊld / noun [ S or U ] (LOW TEMPERATURE)

B1 cold weather or temperatures:

Don't stand out there in the cold, come in here and get warm.

Old people tend to feel the cold (= feel uncomfortable in cold temperatures) more than the young.

My feet were numb with cold.

Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner’s English Dictionary

cold

/koʊld/
(colder, coldest, colds)

Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English.

1.
Something that is cold has a very low temperature or a lower temperature than is normal or acceptable.
Rinse the vegetables under cold running water...
He likes his tea neither too hot nor too cold...
Your dinner’s getting cold.
≠ hot, warm
ADJ
• cold‧ness
She complained about the coldness of his hands.
≠ warmth
N-UNCOUNT: usu with supp

2.
If it is cold, or if a place is cold, the temperature of the air is very low.
It was bitterly cold...
The house is cold because I can’t afford to turn the heat on...
This is the coldest winter I can remember.
≠ hot, warm
ADJ: oft it v-link ADJ
• cold‧ness
Within quarter of an hour the coldness of the night had gone.
N-UNCOUNT: usu with supp

3.
Cold weather or low temperatures can be referred to as the cold.
He must have come inside to get out of the cold...
His feet were blue with cold.
≠ heat
N-UNCOUNT: also the N

4.
If you are cold, your body is at an unpleasantly low temperature.
I was freezing cold...
I’m hungry, I’m cold and I’ve nowhere to sleep.
ADJ: usu v-link ADJ

5.
Cold food, such as salad or meat that has been cooked and cooled, is not intended to be eaten hot.
A wide variety of hot and cold snacks will be available.
...cold meats.
≠ hot
ADJ: usu ADJ n

6.
Cold colours or cold light give an impression of coldness.
Generally, warm colours advance in painting and cold colours recede.
...the cold blue light from a streetlamp.
≠ warm
ADJ

7.
A cold person does not show much emotion, especially affection, and therefore seems unfriendly and unsympathetic. If someone’s voice is cold, they speak in an unfriendly unsympathetic way.
What a cold, unfeeling woman she was...
‘Send her away,’ Eve said in a cold, hard voice.
≠ warm
ADJ [disapproval]
• cold‧ly
‘I’ll see you in the morning,’ Hugh said coldly.
ADV
• cold‧ness
His coldness angered her.
N-UNCOUNT

8.
A cold trail or scent is one which is old and therefore difficult to follow.
He could follow a cold trail over hard ground and even over stones.
≠ fresh
ADJ

9.
If you have a cold, you have a mild, very common illness which makes you sneeze a lot and gives you a sore throat or a cough.
N-COUNT

10.
see also common cold

11.
If you catch cold, or catch a cold, you become ill with a cold.
Let’s dry our hair so we don’t catch cold.
PHRASE: V inflects

12.
If something leaves you cold, it fails to excite or interest you.
Lawrence is one of those writers who either excite you enormously or leave you cold.
PHRASE: V inflects

13.
If someone is out cold, they are unconscious or sleeping very heavily.
She was out cold but still breathing.
PHRASE: v-link PHR

14.
in cold blood: see blood
to get cold feet: see foot
to blow hot and cold: see hot
to pour cold water on something: see water

Merriam-Webster's Advanced Learner's Dictionary

Merriam-Webster's Advanced Learner's Dictionary:

²cold noun, pl colds
1 [noncount] : a cold condition
• I mind cold more than heat.
• They died of exposure to cold.
• She was shivering with cold. [=because she was cold]
2 the cold : cold weather
• The cold really sets in around late November and doesn't let up until April.
• I stood there shivering in the cold.
• He waited outside for her in the bitter cold.
• Come in out of the cold.
3 [count] : a common illness that affects the nose, throat, and eyes and that usually causes coughing, sneezing, etc.
• It's not the flu, it's just a cold.
• He got/caught a cold. = He came down with a cold. = (Brit) He went down with a cold.
• the common cold
- often used before another noun
• the cold virus
• cold symptoms/remedies
- see also head cold
blue with cold, blue from the cold
- see ¹blue
come in from the cold : to become part of a group or of normal society again after you have been outside it
• a former spy who has come in from the cold
leave (someone) out in the cold : to leave (someone) in a bad position : to not give (someone) the rights or advantages that are given to others
• The changes benefit management but leave the workers out in the cold.