chill

[chil]

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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR chill ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

coldness, especially a moderate but uncomfortably penetrating coldness: the chill of evening.

a sensation of cold, usually with shivering: She felt a slight chill from the open window.

a feeling of sudden fear, anxiety, or alarm.

sudden coldness of the body, as during the cold stage of an ague: fevers and chills.

a depressing influence or sensation: His presence cast a chill over everyone.

lack of warmth of feeling; unfriendliness; coolness.

Foundry. an inserted object or a surface in a mold capable of absorbing large amounts of heat, used to harden the surface of a casting or to increase its rate of solidification at a specific point.

bloom¹(def 12).

adjective

moderately cold; tending to cause shivering; chilly: a chill wind.

shivering with or affected by cold; chilly.

depressing or discouraging: chill prospects.

Slang. cool(def 14).

unduly formal; unfriendly; chilly: a chill reception.

verb (used without object)

to become cold: The earth chills when the sun sets.

to be seized with a chill; shiver with cold or fear.

Foundry. (of a casting) to become hard on the surface by contact with a chill or chills.

Slang. to calm down; relax (often followed by out).

verb (used with object)

to affect with cold; make chilly: The rain has chilled me to the bone.

to make cool: Chill the wine before serving.

to depress; discourage; deter: The news chilled his hopes.

Foundry. to harden the surface of (a casting) by casting it in a mold having a chill or chills.

bloom¹(def 22).

Slang. to kill; murder.

Idioms

take a chill pill, Slang. See chill pill(def 2).

Origin of chill

before 900; Middle English chile, Old English ci(e)le, cele coolness; akin to gelid, cool, cold

Related formschill·ing·ly, adverbchill·ness, nouno·ver·chill, adjectiveo·ver·chill, verbpre·chill, verb (used with object)un·chilled, adjectivewell-chilled, adjective

Synonyms for chill

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR chill ON THESAURUS.COM

13. cold, aloof, hostile, stiff.

Synonym study

9. See cold.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for chillest

freezing, chilly, icy, frigid, biting, wintry, frosty, discouraging, sharp, brisk, arctic, cool, solitary, reserved, hostile, depressing, dispiriting, withdrawn, formal, bleak

Examples from the Web for chillest

Historical Examples of chillest

At that chillest, most awful moment of all the circle of time, Mrs. Forrester had sunk into half-unconsciousness.
The Wizard's Son, vol. 3
Margaret Oliphant
Even on the summit of the Blocksberg, the chillest, barest spot on earth, you would impart some warmth.
The Dangerous Age
Karin Michalis
There is a stone which is of all the hardest and the chillest, but when once set on fire it is unquenchable.
The Disowned, Complete
Edward Bulwer-Lytton
She was amicable, conversable, all that was agreeable as a woman, and she was the chillest of wives.
Lord Ormont and his Aminta, Complete
George Meredith
"Thank you," she said, in her chillest and primmest fashion, as she withdrew from Ruth's embrace.
Aunt Rachel
David Christie Murray

British Dictionary definitions for chillest

chill

noun

a moderate coldness

a sensation of coldness resulting from a cold or damp environment, or from a sudden emotional reaction

a feverish cold

a check on enthusiasm or joy

a metal plate placed in a sand mould to accelerate cooling and control local grain growth

another name for bloom 1 (def. 9)

adjective

another word for chilly

verb

to make or become cold

(tr) to cool or freeze (food, drinks, etc)

(tr)

to depress (enthusiasm, etc)
to discourage

(tr) to cool (a casting or metal object) rapidly in order to prevent the formation of large grains in the metal

(intr) slang, mainly US to relax; calm oneself

Word Origin for chill

Old English ciele; related to calan to cool, Latin gelidus icy

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for chillest

chill

Old English ciele, cele "cold, coolness, chill, frost," from Proto-Germanic *kal- "to be cold," from PIE root *gel- "cold" (see cold). According to OED, the word seems to have been obsolete after c.1400 (displaced by cold) and the modern use is a back-formation since c.1600 from the verb.

chill

late 14c., intransitive, "to feel cold, grow cold;" c.1400, transitive, "to make cold," from chill (n.). Related: Chilled; chilling; chillingly. Figurative use from late 14c. Meaning "hang out" first recorded 1985; from earlier chill out "relax" (1979).

Sheila E. sizzles in the new flick, Krush Groove, but some New York critics couldn't groove with it because many of the terms are unfamiliar to them. Examples: breakin' out (slang for leaving), chill (for cool down) and death (for something that's really good). ["Jet," Nov. 11, 1985]

chillest in Medicine

chill

[chĭl]

n.

A feeling of cold, with shivering and pallor, sometimes accompanied by an elevation of temperature in the interior of the body.