cold-blooded
designating or pertaining to animals, as fishes and reptiles, whose blood temperature ranges from the freezing point upward, in accordance with the temperature of the surrounding medium; poikilothermic.
without emotion or feeling; dispassionate; cruel: a cold-blooded murder.
sensitive to cold.
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Origin of cold-blooded
1Other words from cold-blooded
- cold-blood·ed·ly, adverb
- cold-blood·ed·ness, noun
Words Nearby cold-blooded
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use cold-blooded in a sentence
But it lacked the one ingredient that has largely been absent from this World Cup: cold-blooded finishing in front of goal.
“Show business” was much more a haven for sentimentalists then, not for ironists like Letterman or cold-blooded comics like Leno.
From Jack to Johnny to Jay: Saying Goodbye to ‘Tonight’ | Tom Shales | February 7, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTHis sentencing is scheduled for this week—but who do you punish when a child becomes a cold-blooded killer?
The Week’s Best Longreads for February 16, 2013 | David Sessions | February 16, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTShe allows she does not rank Allaway among the most cold-blooded of killers.
What Aurora Victims Might Face if James Holmes Pleaded Insane | Michael Daly | August 1, 2012 | THE DAILY BEASTSo Murdoch, cold-blooded and lizard-brained, knows he must preserve his own position while somehow ensuring a peaceful succession.
It wasn't any scruple of mercy, for Hicks was as cold-blooded a brute as ever glanced down a gun-barrel.
Raw Gold | Bertrand W. SinclairHow dare you decide in this cold-blooded way whether I am to be called—ah—Tosh—or—ah—Porker!
First Plays | A. A. MilneIf all the world did not wag his way, so much the worse for cold-blooded mercenary superfluous beings.
Ancestors | Gertrude AthertonHe had fired, remembering that cold-blooded slaughter at the Weedham Industries plant.
Good heavens, Odin thought, what a cold-blooded obituary for any race!
Hunters Out of Space | Joseph Everidge Kelleam
British Dictionary definitions for cold-blooded
having or showing a lack of feeling or pity: a cold-blooded killing
informal particularly sensitive to cold
(of all animals except birds and mammals) having a body temperature that varies with that of the surroundings: Technical term: poikilothermic
Derived forms of cold-blooded
- cold-bloodedly, adverb
- cold-bloodedness, noun
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
Scientific definitions for cold-blooded
[ kōld′blŭd′ĭd ]
Having a body temperature that changes according to the temperature of the surroundings. Fish, amphibians, and reptiles are cold-blooded.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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