catch cold

Idioms  

1. Also, catch one's death (of cold). Become infected with a cold virus, contract a bad cold, as in Jane manages to catch cold on every important business trip, or Put on your hat or you'll catch your death. The first term originally (16th century) meant becoming chilled by exposure to cold and took on its present meaning in the late 1600s. The hyperbolic variant, often shortened, is somewhat newer.

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Example Sentences

The same technique being used to catch cold case killers also is being used to identify unidentified cold case bodies.

From Fox News • Feb. 14, 2020

The world unravels, but then at the end of the film, the aliens conveniently catch cold and die, and Cruise’s nuclear family turns out to be still happily intact.

From The Guardian • Jun. 3, 2016

To those obvious considerations we can add that parents catch cold less often, which must offer a small earnings boost.

From New York Times • Nov. 14, 2012

But look here," said Brisket, "three lousy ski seasons in a row, then the banks all catch cold, and the legislature starts talking about broad-based taxes.

From Time Magazine Archive

Gan mao — to catch cold — was one Chinese phrase they understood completely.

From "Typical American" by Gish Jen