Meaning & use
cold
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Meanings
adjectivecomparable
Having a low temperature, especially an unpleasantly low one.
Grammar: Used before a noun or after be: cold water, it is cold.
Patterns
- feel cold
- cold to the touch
The lake was too cold to swim in.
Put the milk back in the cold fridge.
My hands are cold.
adjectivecomparable
Unfriendly or without emotion.
Grammar: Describes manners or looks: a cold stare.
Patterns
- cold toward someone
He gave her a cold stare.
Her cold reply surprised us.
The boss seemed cold and distant.
adjectiveafter a verb
No longer warm or fresh, as food that has cooled.
Grammar: Applies to food: the soup went cold.
Patterns
- go cold
My tea went cold while I was on the phone.
The pizza is cold now.
The trail had gone cold.
nouncountable
A mild illness of the nose and throat that causes sneezing and coughing.
Grammar: Takes catch or have: catch a cold.
Patterns
- catch a cold
- have a cold
I caught a cold last week.
She has a bad cold.
Colds spread quickly in winter.
noununcountable
Low temperature or cold weather.
Grammar: Often the cold: he shivered in the cold.
Patterns
- in the cold
The cold made the pipes freeze.
Don't stand outside in the cold.
They felt the cold through their coats.
Word forms
| comparative | colder |
|---|---|
| superlative | coldest |
| plural | colds |
Common combinations
- bitterly cold
- It was bitterly cold at dawn.
- catch a cold
- Wear a coat or you'll catch a cold.
- cold war
- The cold war lasted decades.
- cold shoulder
- She gave him the cold shoulder.
- cold feet
- He got cold feet before the wedding.
- cold call
- Sales reps make a cold call to strangers.
Synonyms and how they differ
- chilly
- Chilly is milder than cold and often only uncomfortably cool.
- freezing
- Freezing means extremely cold, at or below the freezing point.
- icy
- Icy is very cold like ice and often describes manners too.
- aloof
- Aloof describes distant people and does not refer to temperature.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: cold or cool?
cold vs cool
Cool is mildly cold and often pleasant, while cold is stronger and often unpleasant.
Practice
She stayed in bed because she had a bad ______ and a sore throat.
Choose one answer.
A cold is a common illness. The other forms are not nouns for the illness.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “cold”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.