Meaning & Definition of Cold in English

1. A mild viral infection involving the nose and respiratory passages (but not the lungs)

• "Will they never find a cure for the common cold?"

2. The absence of heat

• "The coldness made our breath visible"

• "Come in out of the cold"

• "Cold is a vasoconstrictor"

3. The sensation produced by low temperatures

• "He shivered from the cold"

• "The cold helped clear his head"

1. Having a low or inadequate temperature or feeling a sensation of coldness or having been made cold by e.g. ice or refrigeration

• "A cold climate"

• "A cold room"

• "Dinner has gotten cold"

• "Cold fingers"

• "If you are cold, turn up the heat"

• "A cold beer"

2. Extended meanings

• Especially of psychological coldness

• Without human warmth or emotion

• "A cold unfriendly nod"

• "A cold and unaffectionate person"

• "A cold impersonal manner"

• "Cold logic"

• "The concert left me cold"

3. Having lost freshness through passage of time

• "A cold trail"

• "Dogs attempting to catch a cold scent"

4. (color) giving no sensation of warmth

• "A cold bluish grey"

5. Marked by errorless familiarity

• "Had her lines cold before rehearsals started"

6. Lacking originality or spontaneity

• No longer new

• "Moth-eaten theories about race"

• "Stale news"

7. So intense as to be almost uncontrollable

• "Cold fury gripped him"

8. Sexually unresponsive

• "Was cold to his advances"

• "A frigid woman"

9. Without compunction or human feeling

• "In cold blood"

• "Cold-blooded killing"

• "Insensate destruction"

10. Feeling or showing no enthusiasm

• "A cold audience"

• "A cold response to the new play"

11. Unconscious from a blow or shock or intoxication

• "The boxer was out cold"

• "Pass out cold"

12. Of a seeker

• Far from the object sought

13. Lacking the warmth of life

• "Cold in his grave"