I. cold 1 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 card s
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 ↑ blood 1 (3), ⇨ cold fish at ↑ fish 1 (8), ⇨ blow hot and cold at ↑ blow 1 (21), ⇨ cold comfort at ↑ comfort 1 (7), ⇨ pour cold water over/on at ↑ pour (6), ⇨ a cold sweat at ↑ sweat 2 (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. cold 2 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. cold 3 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!