# cold
## English
### Pronunciation

* (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /kəʊld/, [kʰɔʊ(ɫ)d], [kʰɒʊ(ɫ)d]
* Audio (Received Pronunciation):(file)
* Audio (London):(file)
* (General American) enPR: kold, IPA: /koʊld/
* Audio (General American):(file)
* (New Zealand) IPA: /kaʉld/, [kʰɒʊ(ɫ)d]
* Homophone: coaled
* Rhymes: -əʊld

### Etymology 1

From Middle English cold, from Anglian Old English cald. The West Saxon form, ċeald (“cold”), survived as early Middle English cheald, cheld, or chald. Both descended from Proto-West Germanic *kald, from Proto-Germanic *kaldaz, a participle form of *kalaną (“to be cold”), from Proto-Indo-European *gel- (“cold”).
Cognate with Scots cald, cauld (“cold”), Saterland Frisian koold (“cold”), West Frisian kâld (“cold”), Dutch koud (“cold”), Low German kold, koolt, koold (“cold”), German kalt (“cold”), Danish kold (“cold”), Norwegian kald (“cold”), Swedish kall (“cold”).

#### Adjective

cold (comparative colder, superlative coldest)
* (of a thing) Having a low temperature.
    Synonyms: chilled, chilly, freezing, frigid, glacial, icy, cool; see also Thesaurus:cold
    Antonyms: baking, boiling, heated, hot, scorching, searing, torrid, warm; see also Thesaurus:hot, Thesaurus:warm
    A cold wind whistled through the trees.
** 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Proverbs 25:25:As cold waters to a thirstie soule: so is good newes from a farre countrey.
** 1843 December 19, Charles Dickens, “Stave Four. The Last of the Spirits.”, in A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas, London: Chapman & Hall, […], →OCLC, page 137:Oh cold, cold, rigid, dreadful Death, set up thine altar here, and dress it with such terrors as thou hast at thy command: for this is thy dominion!
** 1960, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, chapter V, in Jeeves in the Offing, London: Herbert Jenkins, →OCLC:I had always supposed that playboys didn't give a hoot for anything except blondes and cold bottles.
* (of the weather) Causing the air to be cold.
    Synonyms: (UK, slang) brass monkeys, nippy, parky, taters
    Antonyms: hot; see also Thesaurus:hot
    The forecast is that it will be very cold today.
** 1904, Owen Felltham, William Henry Oliphant Smeaton, Resolves:As fruits of hotter countries, transearthed in colder climates, have vigour enough in themselves to be fructuous according to their nature: but, that they are hindered by the chilling nips of the air, and the soil, wherein they are planted.
** 2022 March 25, Rachel Ramirez and Hafsa Khalil, “Antarctic ice shelf nearly the size of Los Angeles collapsed as temperatures soared to 40 above normal”, in CNN‎:Antarctica is the coldest, iciest place on Earth, which makes the recent warming event particularly worrying for many scientists. […] Larter said this happens less frequently in the East Antarctic because the ocean water there is much colder.
* (of a person or animal) Feeling the sensation of coldness, especially to the point of discomfort.
    Antonyms: hot; see also Thesaurus:hot
    She was so cold she was shivering.
* Unfriendly; emotionally distant or unfeeling.
    Synonyms: aloof, distant, hostile, standoffish, unfriendly, unwelcoming; see also Thesaurus:aloof
    Antonyms: amiable, friendly, welcoming
    She shot me a cold glance before turning her back.
** 1850, T. S. Arthur, “Happy on a Little”, in Sketches of Life and Character‎, Philadelphia: J. W. Bradley, →OCLC, page 89:At the end of a week, she could bear the suspense no longer, and so went humbly to her old home and sought forgiveness. She was not repulsed, but her reception was cold; and this hurt her almost as badly.
** 1960, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, chapter VII, in Jeeves in the Offing, London: Herbert Jenkins, →OCLC:"Suppose someone pops in?" "Don't be silly. Mrs Cream is working on her book. Phyllis is in her room, typing Upjohn's speech. Wilbert's gone for a walk. Upjohn isn't here. The only character who could pop in would be the Brinkley Court ghost. If it does, give it a cold look and walk through it. That'll teach it not to come butting in where it isn't wanted, ha ha."
* Chilled, filled with an uncomfortable sense of fear, dread, or alarm.
    Synonym: apprehensive
** 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, Canto XL, page 63:Yet oft when sundown skirts the moor ⁠An inner trouble I behold, ⁠A spectral doubt which makes me cold, That I shall be thy mate no more, […]
* Dispassionate; not prejudiced or partisan; impartial.
    Synonyms: disinterested, indifferent; see also Thesaurus:impartial
    Let's look at this tomorrow with a cold head.
    He's a nice guy, but the cold facts say we should fire him.
    The cold truth is that states rarely undertake military action unless their national interests are at stake.
* Completely unprepared; without introduction.
    Synonyms: unprepared, unready
    Antonyms: prepared, primed, ready
    He was assigned cold calls for the first three months.
** 2019, Kelly D. Harrison, Air Force Cop: An Autobiography, page 100:The one thing considered the brass ring in selling insurance was making a sale on a cold canvass. Cold canvassing was the most dreaded exercise for most insurance salesmen.
* Unconscious or deeply asleep; deprived of the metaphorical heat associated with life or consciousness.
    I knocked him out cold.
    After one more beer he passed out cold.
** 2017, David Walliams [pseudonym; David Edward Williams], Bad Dad, London: HarperCollins Children’s Books, →ISBN:Before Mr Big could utter another word, Dad’s false leg crashed down through the window… …and the wooden foot bashed Mr Big hard on the head. The crime boss collapsed to the floor, out cold.
* (usually with "have" or "know" transitively) Perfectly, exactly, completely; by heart; down pat.
    Practice your music scales until you know them cold.
    Try both these maneuvers until you have them cold and can do them in the dark without thinking.
    Rehearse your lines until you have them down cold.
    Keep that list in front of you, or memorize it cold.
* (usually with "have" transitively) Cornered; done for.
    With that receipt, we have them cold for fraud.
    Criminal interrogation. Initially they will dream up explanations faster than you could ever do so, but when they become fatigued, often they will acknowledge that you have them cold.
** 1960, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, chapter XIX, in Jeeves in the Offing, London: Herbert Jenkins, →OCLC:"Either Upjohn agrees to drop that libel suit or he doesn't get these notes, as he calls them, and without them he won't be able to utter a word. He'll have to come across with the price of the papers. Won't he, Jeeves?" "He would appear to have no alternative, miss." "Unless he wants to get up on that platform and stand there opening and shutting his mouth like a goldfish. We've got him cold."
* (slang) Cool, impressive.
** 2023 May 1, Paolo Songco, “Warriors star Steph Curry's cold 'night night' pic vs. Kings goes completely viral”, in ClutchPoints‎, archived from the original on 2023-05-30:There were more than a few unforgettable moments from Sunday's Game 7 showdown between the Golden State Warriors and the Sacramento Kings. Steph Curry came up with an epic performance on a record-setting evening, and he also produced one of the coldest photos of the NBA Playoffs thus far.
** 2023 August 3, @67x4L, Twitter‎, archived from the original on 9 November 2023:Lowkey she so cold for that
** 2023 August 6, @SUPERTHYROID, Twitter‎, archived from the original on 8 November 2023:Indians see this fit and think it's the coldest thing ever
* (obsolete) Not pungent or acrid.
    Synonyms: mild, neutral
** 1627 (indicated as 1626), Francis [Bacon], “(please specify the page, or |century=I to X)”, in Sylua Syluarum: Or A Naturall Historie. In Ten Centuries. […], London: […] William Rawley […]; [p]rinted by J[ohn] H[aviland] for William Lee […], →OCLC:cold plants
* (obsolete) Unexciting; dull; uninteresting.
    Synonyms: colourless, lifeless; see also Thesaurus:boring
** 1641, Ben Jonson, Discoveries Made upon Men and Matter‎:What a deal of cold business doth a man misspend the better part of life in!
** 1705, J[oseph] Addison, Remarks on Several Parts of Italy, &c. in the Years 1701, 1702, 1703, London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:The jest grows cold […] when it comes on in a second scene.
* Affecting the sense of smell (as of hunting dogs) only feebly; having lost its odour.
    a cold scent
* (obsolete) Not sensitive; not acute.
** c. 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Winters Tale”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i]:Smell this business with a sense as cold / As is a dead man's nose.
* Distant; said, in the game of hunting for some object, of a seeker remote from the thing concealed. Compare warm and hot.
    You're cold … getting warmer … hot! You've found it!
* (painting) Having a bluish effect; not warm in colour.
    Synonyms: see Thesaurus:bluish
* (databases) Rarely used or accessed, and thus able to be relegated to slower storage.
* (informal) Without compassion; heartless; ruthless.
    Synonyms: cold-eyed, frosty, icy, uncompassionate; see also Thesaurus:stern
    I can't believe she said that...that was cold!
** 2011 April 23, The Impossible Astronaut (Doctor Who), season series 6, episode 1:River Song: (upon seeing the still-living Doctor, moments after he made her and two other friends watch what they thought was his death) This is cold. Even by your standards, this is cold.
** 2015, Jocelyn Samara D., Rain, volume 3, page 237:"At the risk of sounding cold though, I'm glad he's gone. His abandonment left me in Aunt Fara's custody, and that's honestly the best thing he's ever done for me."
* (informal) Not radioactive. [from the 20thc.]
    Antonyms: hot, radioactive
** 1953, Philip K. Dick, “Planet for Transients”, in Fantastic Universe magazine‎, number Oct-Nov 1953, page 64:"That's right," Jackson said. "The Old Man will be pleased to welcome you." There was eagerness in his reedy voice. "What do you say? We'll take care of you. Feed you, bring you cold plants and animals. For a week maybe?"
* (firearms) Not loaded with a round of live ammunition.
* Without electrical power being supplied.
    Synonym: dead
** 1956, Philco Corporation, Handbook of Test Methods and Practices, page 3–3:Therefore, to avoid unnecessary delay in the trouble-shooting procedure, it is good practice to make a resistance check on a "cold" circuit (before applying power), to determine whether resistance values are normal.

##### Derived terms

* acold
* a cold day in July
* anticold
* blow hot and cold
* bright lights and cold steel (cold steel and bright lights)
* bring someone out in a cold sweat
* bust ass cold
* clay-cold
* cold abscess
* cold agglutinin disease
* cold antibody
* cold-aridiphilous
* cold as a mackerel
* cold as a wagon tire
* cold as a well-digger's arse
* cold as a witch's kiss
* cold as a witch's tit (cold as a witch's teat, cold as a witch's tit in a brass bra)
* cold as balls
* cold as charity
* cold as death
* Cold Ash
* Cold Ashton
* cold as ice
* cold as the grave
* cold-avoidant (cold avoidant)
* cold-back (cold back)
* coldbeer
* cold blob
* cold blood
* cold-blooded
* cold boot
* cold boot attack
* cold-brew coffee
* cold brew coffee (cold brew)
* cold call
* cold camera
* cold cap
* cold capping
* cold case
* cold cash
* cold cathode (cold-cathode)
* cold chain
* cold chills
* cold chips
* cold chisel
* Cold Christmas
* coldcock
* cold cock (cold-cock)
* cold collation
* cold comfort
* cold-conk
* cold cook
* cold cream
* cold cuts (cold-cuts, cold cut)
* cold dark matter
* cold day in Hell
* cold deck
* cold dish
* cold-drawn
* cold drink money
* cold drop
* cold duck
* cold email
* cold-email
* cold emailing
* cold empathy
* colden
* cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey
* cold-eyed
* cold feet
* cold finger
* cold fire
* cold fish
* cold flour
* cold food powder
* cold forming
* cold frame
* cold front
* cold fusion
* cold hand
* cold hands, warm heart
* cold hard cash
* cold, hard ground
* cold-hearted
* coldhouse
* coldie
* coldish
* Cold Kirby
* cold launch
* coldlike
* coldly
* cold meat
* cold meat box
* cold meat cart
* cold meat train
* Cold Meece
* cold moon
* cold-natured
* coldness
* Cold Norton
* cold one
* cold open
* cold pack
* cold patch
* cold pig
* cold-pressed
* cold prickly
* coldproof
* cold rain process
* cold read
* cold reading
* cold roll
* cold rubber
* cold sell
* cold shoe
* cold short (cold-short)
* cold-shoulder
* cold shoulder
* cold shoulder sleeve
* cold shower
* cold shut (cold-shut)
* coldsleep (cold sleep)
* cold sleeper
* cold smoking
* cold snap
* cold sober
* coldsome
* cold spell
* cold spot
* Coldspring, Cold Spring
* cold start
* cold steel (cold iron)
* cold storage
* cold store
* cold sweat
* cold tail
* cold tap
* cold transfer
* cold trap, coldtrap
* cold treatment
* cold trot
* cold turkey
* cold ulcer
* cold wallet
* cold war
* coldward
* Cold Warrior (cold warrior)
* coldwater
* coldwater flat (cold-water flat, cold water flat)
* coldwave
* cold wave
* cold weapon
* cold weld
* cold welding
* cold without
* cold work
* coldwork
* cold working, coldworking
* Colombian cold
* Coniston Cold
* encolden
* freezing cold
* from my cold, dead hands
* get cold feet
* give someone the cold shoulder
* go down like a cup of cold sick
* grow cold
* have no fear of ice cold beer
* hot and cold
* icecold
* ice-cold (ice cold)
* in cold blood
* in the cold light of day
* is your head cold
* key-cold
* leave someone cold
* make someone's blood run cold (make the blood run cold, one's blood runs cold)
* noncold
* one-cold
* overcold
* pole of cold
* pour cold water over
* revenge is a dish best served cold
* run hot and cold
* someone's blood runs cold
* stone-cold fox
* stone-cold sober
* stone-cold (stone cold, stonecold)
* supercold
* throw cold water on (pour cold water on)
* ultracoldcold approach

##### Descendants

* Sranan Tongo: kowru
** Aukan: koo

##### Translations

    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

### Etymology 2

From Middle English cold, colde, from Old English cald, ċeald (“cold, coldness”), from Proto-West Germanic *kald, from Proto-Germanic *kaldą (“coldness”), from Proto-Indo-European *gel- (“cold”).

#### Noun

cold (countable and uncountable, plural colds)
* (uncountable) A condition of low temperature.
    Come in, out of the cold.
* (with 'the', figurative) A harsh place; a place of abandonment.
    The former politician was left out in the cold after his friends deserted him.
* (countable, pathology) A common, usually harmless, usually viral illness, usually with congestion of the nasal passages and sometimes fever.
    I caught a miserable cold and had to stay home for a week
** 2016 September 16, Hailey Middlebrook, “Should you really feed a cold and starve a fever?”, in CNN‎:Dr. Jon S. Abramson, a pediatric infectious disease expert at Wake Forest Medical School, has found no medical evidence to support feeding a cold and starving a fever. He is particularly offended by the latter part of the phrase. […] “Always feed both colds and fevers,” Abramson said.
* (uncountable, slang) Rheum; sleepy dust.
** 1994, Notorious B.I.G., Warning‎:Who the fuck is this, pagin' me at 5:46 in the morning? / crack of dawn and now I'm yawnin' / wipe the cold out my eye, see who's this pagin' me and why
** 1996, Ghostface Killah, All That I Got Is You‎:But I remember this, moms would lick her finger tips / to wipe the cold out my eye before school with her spit

##### Synonyms

* (low temperature): coldness
* (illness): common cold, coryza, head cold, pose

##### Coordinate terms

* freeze, frost

##### Derived terms

* bitter cold
* catch a cold
* catch cold
* catch one's death of cold
* chest cold
* cold-sensitive
* cold shock response
* cold sore
* cold urticaria (cold allergy)
* cold virus
* come in from the cold
* common cold
* head cold
* in from the cold
* leave someone out in the cold
* paroxysmal cold hemoglobinuria
* rose cold
* take cold

##### Translations

Arabic: بُرُودَة f (burūda), بَرْد (ar) m (bard)
Egyptian Arabic: برد m (bard), برودة f (buruda)
Armenian: սառնություն (hy) (saṙnutʻyun), ցուրտ (hy) (cʻurt)
Aromanian: frig
Asturian: fríu (ast) m
Azerbaijani: şaxta (az)
Belarusian: хо́лад (be) m (xólad)
Bulgarian: студ (bg) m (stud)
Burmese: အအေး (my) (a.e:)
Catalan: fred (ca) m
Cherokee: ᎤᏴᏢ (uyvtlv)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 寒冷 (zh) (hánlěng)
Cimbrian: bròst m
Coptic:
Bohairic: ϩⲣⲟϣ m (hroš)
Cornish: yeynder m
Czech: zima (cs) f, chlad (cs) m
Danish: kulde (da) c
Dutch: kou (nl) f, koude (nl) f
Egyptian: (qb m)
Esperanto: malvarmo
Estonian: külm (et)
Even: иӈэнь (iŋəņ)
Evenki: доӈото (doŋoto), иӈин (iŋin)
Finnish: kylmyys (fi), pakkanen (fi), kylmä (fi)
French: froid (fr) m
Galician: frío (gl) m
Georgian: სიცივე (sicive)
German: Kälte (de) f
Gothic: 𐍆𐍂𐌹𐌿𐍃 n (frius)
Greek: κρύο (el) n (krýo)
Ancient: ψῦχος n (psûkhos), κρύος n (krúos)
Hebrew: קֹר (he) m (qor)
Higaonon: tino
Hindi: शीतल (hi) (śītal)
Hungarian: hideg (hu)
Ido: koldeso (io)
Ingrian: vilu, kylmä
Interlingua: frigido
Irish: fuacht m
Old Irish: úacht m
Italian: freddo (it) m, gelo (it) m
Khiamniungan Naga: tāngsēp
Korean: 추위 (ko) (chuwi)
Latin: gelu n, algor m, frigor m, frigus n, algus n
Latvian: aukstums m, saltums m
Lithuanian: vėsa
Luxembourgish: Keelt f
Macedonian: студ m (stud)
Malayalam: തണുപ്പ് (ml) (taṇuppŭ), ശീതം (ml) (śītaṁ)
Maltese: bard m, kesħa f
Maori: makariri, naku (freezing), hōkiwai (extreme)
Marathi: थंडी f (thaṇḍī)
Megleno-Romanian: frig
Nanai: нонгди (noŋʒi)
Ndzwani Comorian: ɓariɗi class 9
Norwegian: kulde (no) m
Occitan: fred (oc) m
Odia: ଥଣ୍ଡା (or) (thaṇḍā)
Old English: ċiele m
Ottoman Turkish: صوغوق (soğuk)
Persian: سرما (fa) (sarmâ)
Polish: zimno (pl) n, mróz (pl) m inan, ziąb (pl) m inan, chłód (pl) m
Portuguese: frio (pt) m
Romani: śil m
Romanian: frig (ro)
Russian: хо́лод (ru) m (xólod), сту́жа (ru) f (stúža)
Sardinian:
Campidanese: fridu m
Logudorese: frìttu m
Scottish Gaelic: fuachd m
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: хладно̀ћа f, студен f, зи́ма f
Roman: hladnòća f, stȕdēn (sh) f, zíma (sh) f
Sicilian: friddu (scn) m, jelu (scn) m, jilata f
Slovak: chlad (sk) m, zima (sk) f, mráz m
Slovene: mraz (sl) m, hlad m
Spanish: frío (es) m, rasca (es) (colloquial), biruji (es) (Spain, colloquial)
Swahili: baridi (sw)
Swedish: kyla (sv) c, köld (sv) c
Tagalog: kalamigán
Tajik: хунукӣ (xunuki)
Telugu: శీతలం (śītalaṁ)
Tocharian B: krostaññe
Ukrainian: хо́лод m (xólod)
Venetan: fredo (vec) m, fret (vec) m
Vietnamese: rét (vi)
Walloon: froedeur (wa) f, froed (wa) m
Welsh: oerfel
Zazaki: puuk, honık (diq) :

### Etymology 3

From Middle English colde, from Old English calde, ċealde (“coldly”), from the adjective (see above).

#### Adverb

cold (comparative more cold, superlative most cold)
* At a low temperature.
    The steel was processed cold.
* Without preparation.
    The speaker went in cold and floundered for a topic.
** 2008, Geddeth Smith, Walter Hampden: Dean of the American Theatre, page 104:Two weeks after it closed, he started rehearsals for Cheer Up, a new play by Mary Roberts Rinehart booked into the Harris Theatre. It was to open cold without any out-of-town tryout under the direction of a young Cecil B. DeMille […]
* (slang, informal, dated) In a cold, frank, or realistically honest manner.
** 1986, Run-DMC, Peter Piper.:Now Little Bo Peep cold lost her sheep / And Rip van Winkle fell the hell asleep

### Derived terms

* cut someone cold
* down cold
* out cold
* stop cold

### See also

* cool
* fresh
* lukewarm
* tepid

### References

* ↑ “cold”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.

### Anagrams

* clod, loc'd

## Middle English
### Alternative forms

* cald, chald, cheald, cheld

### Etymology

Inherited from Anglian Old English cald; variants with ch- are from West Saxon ċeald.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /kɔːld/
* (Northern) IPA: /kaːld/
* (from the form ċeald) IPA: /t͡ʃɛːld/

### Adjective

cold (plural and weak singular colde, comparative colder, superlative *coldest)
* (temperature) cold, cool
* (weather) cold, cool
* (locations) having a tendency to be cold
* cold-feeling, cold when touched, cooled, chilly
* lifeless, having the pallor of death
* cold-hearted, indifferent, insensitive
* distressed, sorrowful, worried
* (alchemy, medicine) Considered to be alchemically cold

#### Descendants

* English: cold
* Geordie English: cawd, cauld
* Scots: cald, cauld
* Yola: coale, khoal, cole

#### References

* “cōld, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-03-26.

### Noun

cold
* cold, coldness
* The feeling of coldness or chill
* Lack of feelings or emotion
* (alchemy, medicine) Alchemical coldness

#### Descendants

* English: cold
* Scots: cald, cauld

#### References

* “cōld, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-03-26.