cold
Americanadjective
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colder,
comparative
-
coldest
superlative
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having a relatively low temperature; having little or no warmth.
cold water; a cold day.
- Antonyms:
- hot
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feeling an uncomfortable lack of warmth; chilled.
The skaters were cold.
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having a temperature lower than the normal temperature of the human body.
cold hands.
-
lacking in passion, emotion, enthusiasm, ardor, etc.; dispassionate.
cold reason.
- Synonyms:
- imperturbable, unconcerned, cool, uninvolved, indifferent
-
not affectionate, cordial, or friendly; unresponsive.
a cold reply; a cold reception.
- Synonyms:
- unfriendly, reserved, formal, polite, heartless, unfeeling, unsympathetic, apathetic, hostile, inimical
-
lacking sensual desire.
She remained cold to his advances.
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failing to excite feeling or interest.
the cold precision of his prose.
- Synonyms:
- dull, uninspiring
-
unexcitable; imperturbable.
cold impassivity.
- Synonyms:
- deliberate, calm
-
depressing; dispiriting.
the cold atmosphere of a hospital waiting room.
-
unconscious because of a severe blow, shock, etc..
I knocked him cold with an uppercut.
-
lacking the warmth of life; lifeless.
When the doctor arrived, the body was already cold.
-
faint; weak.
The dogs lost the cold scent.
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(in games) distant from the object of search or the correct answer.
- Antonyms:
- warm
-
Slang. (in sports and games) not scoring or winning; ineffective.
Cold shooting and poor rebounding were their undoing.
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Art.
-
having cool colors, especially muted tones tending toward grayish blue.
-
being a cool color.
-
-
slow to absorb heat, as a soil containing a large amount of clay and hence retentive of moisture.
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Metalworking. noting or pertaining to any process involving plastic deformation of a metal at a temperature below that at which recrystallization can occur because of the strain.
cold working.
noun
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colds
plural
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the relative absence of heat.
Everyone suffered from the intense cold.
-
the sensation produced by loss of heat from the body, as by contact with anything having a lower temperature than that of the body.
He felt the cold of the steel door against his cheek.
-
cold weather.
He can't take the cold.
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Also called common cold. a respiratory disorder characterized by sneezing, sore throat, coughing, etc., caused by an allergic reaction or by a viral, bacterial, or mixed infection.
adverb
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with complete competence, thoroughness, or certainty; absolutely.
He learned his speech cold.
-
without preparation or prior notice.
She had to play the lead role cold.
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in an abrupt, unceremonious manner.
He quit the job cold.
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Metalworking. at a temperature below that at which recrystallization can occur (sometimes used in combination).
to cold-hammer an iron bar; The wire was drawn cold.
idioms
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throw cold water on, to disparage; disapprove of; dampen the enthusiasm of.
They threw cold water on her hopes to take acting classes.
-
catch / take cold, to get or suffer from a cold.
We all caught cold during that dreadful winter.
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in from the cold, out of a position or condition of exile, concealment, isolation, or alienation.
Since the new government promised amnesty, fugitive rebels are coming in from the cold.
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go cold, (in sports and games) to become unproductive or ineffective; be unable to score.
-
left out in the cold, neglected; ignored; forgotten: Also out in the cold.
After the baby came, the young husband felt left out in the cold.
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in cold blood. blood.
adjective
-
having relatively little warmth; of a rather low temperature
cold weather
cold hands
-
without sufficient or proper warmth
this meal is cold
-
lacking in affection, enthusiasm, or warmth of feeling
a cold manner
-
not affected by emotion; objective
cold logic
-
dead
-
sexually unresponsive or frigid
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lacking in freshness
a cold scent
cold news
-
chilling to the spirit; depressing
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(of a colour) having violet, blue, or green predominating; giving no sensation of warmth
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metallurgy denoting or relating to a process in which work-hardening occurs as a result of the plastic deformation of a metal at too low a temperature for annealing to take place
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(of a process) not involving heat, in contrast with traditional methods
cold typesetting
cold technology
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informal (of a seeker) far from the object of a search
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denoting the contacting of potential customers, voters, etc, without previously approaching them in order to establish their interest
cold mailing
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little or no comfort
-
the use of bayonets, knives, etc, in combat
-
without advance notice; without giving preparatory information
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showing no passion; deliberately; ruthlessly
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informal to fail to excite someone
the performance left me cold
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informal to be unenthusiastic about or discourage
noun
-
the absence of heat regarded as a positive force
the cold took away our breath
-
the sensation caused by loss or lack of heat
-
informal neglected; ignored
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an acute viral infection of the upper respiratory passages characterized by discharge of watery mucus from the nose, sneezing, etc
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slang to make a loss; lose one's investment
adverb
-
informal without preparation
he played his part cold
-
informal thoroughly; absolutely
she turned him down cold
Usage
What is a basic definition of cold? Cold is an adjective that describes something that lacks heat or has a low temperature. Cold also describes someone as being unemotional or detached. As a noun, cold often refers to a respiratory illness that involves sneezing and congestion. The word cold has many other senses as an adjective, noun, and adverb. If something is cold, it lacks heat or has a low temperature. For example, cold water would have a temperature that approaches 0 degrees Celsius or Fahrenheit. A cold steak is one that hasn’t been cooked (heated) or one that has just emerged from a freezer. Cold is the opposite of hot. In a related sense, the word cold is used to describe the feeling you have when you lack heat or are exposed to freezing conditions that remove heat from you. This feeling often involves involuntary behavior such as shivering, getting goosebumps, teeth chattering, or skin turning blue.
- Real-life examples: Ice cubes, snow, and the North Pole are examples of things that are cold. Sticking your hand into a bucket of ice water will make you feel really cold. In the Northern Hemisphere, the winter months of December, January, and February are when the weather and air get really cold.
- Used in a sentence:
- I put on a jacket and gloves because it was really cold outside.
- He turned up the thermostat after his mother said she was cold.
- Used in a sentence: I couldn’t handle the extreme cold of the lake.
- Used in a sentence: He was a cold man who rarely ever smiled.
- Used in a sentence: Jade was sneezing all day at work today because she had a cold.
Synonym Usage
Cold, chill, chilly, cool refer to various degrees of absence of heat. Cold refers to temperature possibly so low as to cause suffering: cold water. Chill suggests a penetrating cold which causes shivering and numbness: There was a chill wind blowing. Chilly is a weaker word, though it also connotes shivering and discomfort: a chilly room. Cool means merely somewhat cold, not warm: cool and comfortable. All have figurative uses.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of cold
First recorded before 950; Middle English; Old English cald, ceald; cognate with Gothic kalds, Old Norse kaldr, German kalt, Dutch koud; akin to Latin gel- in gelidus gelid
Explanation
Cold is the opposite of hot. It can refer to temperature, passion, friendliness, and even your personality. All cold things are icy in some way. Your tea can be cold, and someone can be cold to you. If a play leaves you cold, you don't like it. If police find a criminal’s trail has gone cold, they're out of clues. If you're searching for something, and someone tells you you’re "very cold," it means you're not very close to the prize. A cold is also the infection that gives you a runny nose and sore throat.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Drain, rinse under cold water and transfer to the baking dish.
From Salon ● Aug. 16, 2026
Japan's Meteorological Agency said the most recent deluge was brought by warm, humid air flowing into the country's east that combined with cold air above to make atmospheric conditions extremely unstable.
From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026
A conventional heat engine normally relies on separate hot and cold environments.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 14, 2026
Many places on the river in and around Guerneville shut down November through early May because it gets cold and rainy and the river can run high and fast.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026
Following the guard through the long cold corridors, I knew I had made a mistake.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
But this wasn’t a World Cup for the purists—or for anyone convinced that air conditioning gives you colds.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 18, 2026
He grew up drinking hot water and boiling fruit for soups to combat colds.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 24, 2026
She said it could "change how we protect people from common coughs, colds and other respiratory infections" if the results are confirmed in human studies.
From BBC ● Feb. 19, 2026
Other studies have suggested that even 400 IU per day may help prevent common infections such as colds.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 22, 2025
Mandy lived with us as cook and godmother of our children—and secret performer of small magic to protect us from colds, broken crockery, and the sundry inconveniences of a royal household.
From "Ella Enchanted" by Gail Carson Levine
That raises the spectre of both supply difficulties and prices remaining well above pre-crisis levels, just as colder Continental weather drives up demand.
From Barron's ● Aug. 10, 2026
According to NASA, El Niño’s warmer ocean water displaces colder water close to the sea surface.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2026
This intensified circulation caused the thermocline, the boundary between warmer surface water and colder deep water, to become shallower across the Atlantic.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 6, 2026
Patrick added the colder winter months is going to be the "main problem".
From BBC ● Jul. 26, 2026
We set out cold, we arrived at church colder: during the morning service we became almost paralysed.
From "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë
"The Pink Planet is the coldest companion ever discovered using ground-based instruments," said Northwestern's Aneesh Baburaj, who led the study.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 28, 2026
He would study maps and globes, picturing the people and animals who call the coldest reaches of the Earth home.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 17, 2026
“This happened in the coldest way possible: DA Form 3434 stated that my last day as ombudsman for Stars and Stripes is April 28,” she wrote.
From Salon ● May 3, 2026
Wildlife cameraman Doug Allan was renowned for working in some of the coldest and most extreme environments in the world.
From BBC ● Apr. 10, 2026
Shocked, Matt stared up at the coldest pair of eyes he’d ever seen.
From "The House of the Scorpion" by Nancy Farmer
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
