out cold

Idioms  

1. Also, out for the count; out like a light. Unconscious; also, asleep. For example, He crashed into the wall and was out cold, or Willie punched him too hard, and he was out for the count or Don't call Jane; she's out like a light by ten every night. The adjective cold refers to the lack of heat in a dead body and has been used to mean “unconscious” since the second half of the 1800s. The first variant comes from boxing, where a fighter who is knocked down must get up before the referee counts to ten or be declared defeated; it dates from about 1930. The last variant alludes to turning out a light and dates from the first half of the 1900s.

---

Example Sentences

The new study shows that dark matter does not necessarily need to start out cold.

From Science Daily • Jan. 15, 2026

Canadian Delaney Irving, 19, won the women's race, despite rolling across the finish line out cold.

From BBC • Jun. 2, 2023

Top players getting blasted out of playoff series is nothing new, predating even the late Pat Quinn knocking Boston Bruins legend Bobby Orr out cold 54 years ago with a borderline bodycheck to the chin.

From Seattle Times • Apr. 25, 2023

Your dad won’t be out cold in the La-Z-Boy in front of every Orioles game now.

From Washington Post • Feb. 27, 2023

The leader of Shin’s class, Hong Joo Hyun, who was supposed to be a kind of foreman for the day's work mission, was also out cold.

From "Escape from Camp 14: One Man's Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West" by Blaine Harden