pour cold water on

1. Also, throw cold water on. Discourage or deter, as in Cutting my year-end bonus poured cold water on my loyalty to the company, or Hearing about the outbreak of cholera threw cold water on our plans to visit Bolivia. This term, with its image of putting out a fire with water, at one time meant “defame” or “slander”; the modern meaning dates from about 1800.

Example Sentences

But Peskov poured cold water on the idea, saying it was "premature" for the two presidents to meet.

From BBC

I also always bring a bandanna to help evade the dust and I will pour cold water on it on a hot day and wrap it around my neck to cool off.

From Los Angeles Times

From the get-go, newspapers here have been pouring cold water on Paris 2024.

From BBC

"All along the way we were being hit and sworn at and humiliated. And they poured cold water on us".

From BBC

Legal experts poured cold water on the Trump team’s arguments.

From Salon