throw cold water on
IdiomsExample Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“These developments throw cold water on the idea of a swift de-escalation in the Persian Gulf,” analysts at ING said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026
Iran, however, continued to throw cold water on the negotiations Monday when Esmail Baghaei, the foreign ministry spokesperson, dismissed the Trump administration’s terms as “unrealistic, unreasonable and excessive.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 30, 2026
"Most things we do to a virus makes it weaker or not work as well, or maybe you're trying to engineer it for therapeutics, and I'd hate to see somebody throw cold water on that."
From Salon ● Jun. 1, 2025
Budowich did not respond to questions about such efforts, but Trump seemed to throw cold water on the advice.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 9, 2022
"It appears to me, mates," replied the carpenter, "that our friend Billy is going to throw cold water on all our plans."
From The Life of a Celebrated Buccaneer A Page of Past History for the Use of the Children of To-day by Clynton, Richard
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.
