cold: Meaning and Definition of

cold

Pronunciation: (kōld), [key]
— adj., n., adv. -er, -est,
—adj.
  1. having a relatively low temperature; having little or no warmth: cold water; a cold day.
  2. feeling an uncomfortable lack of warmth; chilled: The skaters were cold.
  3. having a temperature lower than the normal temperature of the human body: cold hands.
  4. lacking in passion, emotion, enthusiasm, ardor, etc.; dispassionate: cold reason.
  5. not affectionate, cordial, or friendly; unresponsive: a cold reply; a cold reception.
  6. lacking sensual desire: She remained cold to his advances.
  7. failing to excite feeling or interest: the cold precision of his prose.
  8. unexcitable; imperturbable: cold impassivity.
  9. depressing; dispiriting: the cold atmosphere of a hospital waiting room.
  10. unconscious because of a severe blow, shock, etc.: I knocked him cold with an uppercut.
  11. lacking the warmth of life; lifeless: When the doctor arrived, the body was already cold.
  12. faint; weak: The dogs lost the cold scent.
  13. (in games) distant from the object of search or the correct answer.
  14. (in sports and games) not scoring or winning; ineffective: Cold shooting and poor rebounding were their undoing.
    1. having cool colors, esp. muted tones tending toward grayish blue.
    2. being a cool color.
  15. slow to absorb heat, as a soil containing a large amount of clay and hence retentive of moisture.
  16. 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.
  17. (in sports and games) to become unproductive or ineffective; be unable to score.
  18. See(def. 18).
  19. to disparage; disapprove of; dampen the enthusiasm of: They threw cold water on her hopes to take acting classes.
—n.
  1. the relative absence of heat: Everyone suffered from the intense cold.
  2. 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.
  3. cold weather: He can't take the cold.
  4. a respiratory disorder characterized by sneezing, sore throat, coughing, etc., caused by an allergic reaction or by a viral, bacterial, or mixed infection.
  5. to get or suffer from a cold: We all caught cold during that dreadful winter.
  6. 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.
  7. neglected; ignored; forgotten: After the baby came, the young husband felt left out in the cold.
—adv.
  1. with complete competence, thoroughness, or certainty; absolutely: He learned his speech cold.
  2. without preparation or prior notice: She had to play the lead role cold.
  3. in an abrupt, unceremonious manner: He quit the job cold.
  4. 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.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.
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