cold
adjective /kəʊld/
/kəʊld/
(comparative colder, superlative coldest)
Idioms - having a lower than usual temperature; having a temperature lower than the human body
- I'm cold. Turn the heating up.
- to feel cold
- cold weather/temperatures/air
- a cold day/night/winter/wind
- a cold room/house
- cold hands and feet
- a cold beer
- hot and cold water in every room
- I was thoroughly cold and wet now.
- It's freezing cold.
- Hurry up—your dinner's getting cold
- a bitterly cold morning
- You look cold. Do you want to go back indoors?
- Isn't it cold today?
- It has suddenly turned very cold.
- the coldest May on record
- (British English) The water has gone cold.
Extra ExamplesTopics Weathera1, Geographya1- I'm afraid the coffee's gone cold.
- In January it turned very cold.
- It's bitterly cold outside.
- The rain overnight had made the water cold.
- The room grew cold.
- There was a freezing cold wind.
- Use ice to keep the drinks cold.
- Your dinner's getting cold.
- Every room has hot and cold water.
- It grew colder as the evening came.
- It was the coldest winter on record.
- The stream was icy cold.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryverbs- be
- feel
- look
- …
- extremely
- fairly
- very
- …
- not heated; cooled after being cooked
- a cold drink
- Hot and cold food is available in the cafeteria.
- Bake in the oven for twenty minutes. Serve hot or cold.
- It's cold chicken for lunch.
- a lunch of cold meat and salad
Synonyms coldcold- cool
- freezing
- chilly
- lukewarm
- tepid
- cold having a temperature that is lower than usual or lower than the human body; (of food or drink) not heated; cooled after being cooked:
- I’m cold. Turn the heating up.
- Outside it was bitterly cold.
- a cold wind
- hot and cold water
- It’s cold chicken for lunch.
- cool (often approving) fairly cold, especially in a pleasant way:
- a long cool drink
- We found a cool place to sit.
- freezing extremely cold; having a temperature below 0° Celsius:
- It’s absolutely freezing outside.
- I’m freezing!
- chilly (rather informal) too cold to be comfortable:
- Bring a coat. It might turn chilly later.
- lukewarm (often disapproving) slightly warm, sometimes in an unpleasant way:
- Her coffee was now lukewarm.
- tepid (often disapproving) slightly warm, sometimes in an unpleasant way:
- a jug of tepid water
- to feel/get cold/cool/chilly
- cold/cool/freezing/chilly air/weather
- a cold/cool/freezing/chilly wind
- cold/cool/freezing/lukewarm/tepid water
- a cold/cool/lukewarm/tepid shower/bath
- cold/lukewarm/tepid tea/coffee/food
- a cold/cool drink
- It’s cold/chilly/freezing outside.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryverbs- be
- get
- go
- …
- stone
- (of a person) without emotion; not friendly
- to give somebody a cold look/stare
- Her manner was cold and distant.
- He was staring at her with cold eyes.
- cold towards/to somebody She was very cold towards me.
- He received a cold welcome.
Extra Examples- I found him a rather cold person.
- He was portrayed as a cold, calculating terrorist.
- She gave David a cold look of disapproval.
- seeming to lack any warm feeling, in an unpleasant way
- clear cold light
- cold grey skies
- not easy to find
- The police followed the robbers to the airport but then the trail went cold.
- used in children’s games to say that the person playing is not close to finding a person or thing, or to guessing the correct answerTopics Doubt, guessing and certaintyc2
- out cold [not before noun] (informal) unconscious
- He was knocked out cold in the second round.
- the cold facts/truth facts with nothing added to make them more interesting or pleasant see also coldly, coldness
low temperature
food/drink
not friendly
light/colours
route
in games
unconscious
facts
Word OriginOld English cald, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch koud and German kalt, also to Latin gelu ‘frost’.
Idioms
blow hot and cold (about something)
- (informal) to change your opinion about something oftenTopics Opinion and argumentc2
a cold fish
- a person who seems unfriendly and without strong emotions
get/have cold feet
- (informal) to suddenly become nervous about doing something that you had planned to do
- He was going to ask her but he got cold feet and said nothing.
give somebody the cold shoulder
- (informal) to treat somebody in a way that is not friendly see also cold-shoulder
go hot and cold
- to experience a sudden feeling of fear or worry
- When the phone rang I just went hot and cold.
in cold blood
- acting in a way that is deliberately cruel
- to kill somebody in cold blood
in the cold light of day
- when you have had time to think calmly about something; in the morning when things are clearer
- These things always look different in the cold light of day.
leave somebody cold
- to fail to affect or interest somebody
- Most modern art leaves me cold.
make somebody’s blood run cold
- to make somebody very frightened or fill them with horror
- The sound of laughter in the empty house made my blood run cold.
- Our blood ran cold at the thought of how easily we could have been killed.
pour/throw cold water on something
- to give reasons for not being in favour of something; to criticize something
- She immediately poured cold water on his plans to expand the business.