# cold

Pronunciation: say "KOHLD" US /koʊld/, UK /kəʊld/

## Adjective

1. Having a low temperature; lacking warmth, or making the air or a person feel chilled.
   - Simple: Not warm, with a low temperature, like ice, snow, or a winter wind.
   - _The soup had gone cold by the time she returned to her desk._
   - _January is the coldest month of the year across most of the northern United States._
4. Unfriendly, distant, or unfeeling; showing no warmth or compassion toward others, sometimes to the point of cruelty.
   - Simple: Not friendly or kind, showing no warm feelings for other people, or even being heartless.
   - _After the argument, their relationship turned cold and formal._
   - _She found his cold reply to her heartfelt letter deeply hurtful._
5. Feeling a lack of warmth in the body, especially to the point of discomfort.
   - Simple: Feeling that your body is not warm enough.
   - _After an hour of ice fishing, he was cold to the bone despite his layers._
   - _Are you cold? I can close the window._
7. Of a trail, lead, or investigation, no longer turning up new clues, so that it has stopped making progress.
   - Simple: Of a search or a police case, no longer giving new clues, so it stops moving forward.
   - _Investigators admit the case has gone cold since the last witness was interviewed._
   - _Every lead the reporters chased turned cold within days._
8. Completely unprepared, or undertaken without prior introduction, briefing, or rehearsal.
   - Simple: Not prepared at all, or done without any practice or warning.
   - _On the first day, the cast did a cold read of the script, stumbling over unfamiliar lines._
   - _Sales reps dread making cold calls to customers who have never heard of the company._
9. Dispassionate and impartial; judging or describing without emotion, prejudice, or partisanship.
   - Simple: Looking at facts fairly, without letting feelings change your view.
   - _The auditor's cold assessment spared neither management nor the board._
   - _Viewed in the cold light of statistics, the team's championship hopes look slim._
10. Unconscious or deeply asleep; unresponsive, as if lacking the warmth of waking life.
   - Simple: Not awake at all, like after a hard hit or in a very deep sleep.
   - _The blow to his head knocked him cold for nearly a minute._
   - _She was out cold within seconds of the anesthetic taking effect._
12. Of a player or team, going through a stretch of poor form, especially one marked by failing to score or to shoot accurately. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: Of a player or team, playing badly for a while, especially by missing shots or not scoring.
   - _After a hot start, the home team went cold in the third quarter, hitting just 4 of 20 shots._
   - _Even the league's best hitters run cold for a week or two every season._
13. Filled with an uncomfortable, chilling sense of fear, dread, or alarm.
   - Simple: Feeling sudden fear or worry deep in your body.
   - _A cold dread settled over the crew as the storm closed in._
   - _He turned cold at the thought of what could have happened to the children._
15. In the children's hunting game, far from the hidden object; the opposite of warm or hot.
   - Simple: Far away from the hidden thing you are looking for in a guessing game.
   - _"Colder, colder," her brother teased as she wandered away from the closet where he had hidden her gift._
   - _The kids shouted that he was cold whenever he drifted away from the hiding spot._
16. Mastered perfectly or known by heart; learned down to the last detail.
   - Simple: Known so well that you can repeat it without any mistakes.
   - _By opening night she had every line of the play cold._
   - _He knew the merger agreement cold and answered every question without notes._
17. Tending toward blue in tone; lacking the warmth associated with reds, oranges, and yellows.
   - Simple: Having a bluish look, like the colors of ice or winter.
   - _The portrait's cold palette gives the sitter a remote, wintry presence._
   - _Morning light from a north window is cold compared with the golden light of late afternoon._
18. Remarkably good, stylish, or impressive. *(slang)*
   - Simple: Very good, stylish, or impressive.
   - _Everyone agreed the DJ's set was cold from start to finish._
   - _He pulled up in a cold vintage Mustang that turned every head on the block._
19. Trapped with no avenue of escape; cornered and certain to be caught or defeated.
   - Simple: Trapped, with no way to escape or win.
   - _The prosecutor had the defendant cold: fingerprints, video, and two eyewitnesses._
   - _Once the auditors traced the missing funds to his account, they had him cold._
20. Drawing little interest or demand, or seeing little activity, as can happen to a market or to an idea that was once popular.
   - Simple: Getting little interest or not very active, like a slow market or an idea people no longer want.
   - _Investor appetite for the sector has turned cold since the last round of startup failures._
   - _The idea of a four-day workweek, so popular a few years ago, has gone cold in most boardrooms._
21. Faint to the point of being barely perceptible by smell; having largely lost its odor.
   - Simple: So old and faint that dogs can hardly smell it anymore.
   - _The hounds lost the fox where the scent ran cold at the stream._
   - _By the third day the trail was too cold for even the best dogs to follow._

## Noun

2. A condition or environment of low temperature; the absence of warmth.
   - Simple: A lack of heat, like the kind you feel in winter weather.
   - _They stood in the cold for an hour waiting for the parade to start._
   - _Desert animals must cope with intense heat by day and surprising cold at night._
3. A widespread, generally mild viral infection of the nose and throat that typically blocks the nose and sometimes brings on a fever.
   - Simple: A common illness that blocks up your nose and can sometimes give you a fever.
   - _He came down with a cold two days before the wedding._
   - _Most children catch several colds a year, especially once they start school._
11. A state or place of neglect, hardship, or exclusion; a condition of being abandoned or shut out.
   - Simple: A hard, lonely situation where no one helps you or wants you.
   - _The merger left longtime suppliers out in the cold._
   - _After a decade of exile, the old dissident was finally welcomed in from the cold._

## Adverb

6. At a low temperature; without heating or after cooling.
   - Simple: At a low temperature, without being heated.
   - _The dish is traditionally served cold, straight from the refrigerator._
   - _The mill rolls the steel cold to improve its strength._
14. Without preparation or rehearsal; with no advance work or warning.
   - Simple: Without taking time to get ready or practice first.
   - _She delivered the closing argument cold after her co-counsel fell ill._
   - _Most stand-up comedians refuse to perform new material cold._
26. In a sudden and complete way, so that a person or thing is brought to an abrupt and total stop. *(US)*
   - Simple: Suddenly and fully, so that someone or something stops right away.
   - _The linebacker met the running back at the line and stopped him cold._
   - _A last-minute filibuster stopped the bill cold in the Senate._

## Adjective

22. Lacking interest or liveliness; dull, flat, and unengaging. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: Dull and boring, with nothing interesting or exciting in it.
24. Dull in perception or feeling; lacking sharpness or acuteness. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: Slow to feel or notice things, not sharp or quick.
25. Mild and bland to the taste or smell; lacking pungency or sharpness. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: Mild in taste or smell, not sharp or stinging.

## Adverb

23. In a frank, blunt, or unvarnished manner; without softening or embellishment. *(dated)*
   - Simple: In a direct, honest way, without trying to make bad news sound nicer.

## Other meanings

- (adjective) Receiving no electrical power; disconnected from any live supply so that no current flows.
- (adjective) Of computer data, rarely accessed and so suitable for moving to slower, cheaper storage.
- (adjective) Containing no live round of ammunition and therefore unable to discharge a live shot.
- (adjective) Not radioactive; giving off no nuclear radiation.
- (noun) Dried mucus that collects in the corners of the eyes during sleep; rheum.

## Origin

**Meanings 1, 4–5, 7–10, 12–13, 15–22, 24–25** — Anglian Old English cald became Middle English cold, while the West Saxon form ċeald lived on into early Middle English. The word traces back to Proto-Germanic *kaldaz, a participle of *kalaną ("to be cold"), and to Proto-Indo-European *gel- ("cold"). German kalt and Dutch koud are related.
**Meanings 2–3, 11** — From Middle English 'cold', from Old English 'cald', 'ċeald' ('cold, coldness'), from Proto-Germanic *kaldą ('coldness'), from Proto-Indo-European *gel- ('cold'). It is related to German 'Kälte' and Dutch 'koude'.
**Meanings 6, 14, 23, 26** — Old English calde or ċealde ("coldly"), built from the adjective, became Middle English colde.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/cold (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).