▪ I. cold, a.
(kəʊld)
Forms: 1–3 cald, 3– cold, (5 coold(e, kold, gold, 6 coold, colld, 4–7 colde, 6–7 could). Northern 3– cald, (3–5 kald, 4 caald, 4–5 calde, 5 callde), 7– cauld, (9 caud, caad). Also 1 Saxon ceald, 2–4 Southern cheald, 4 cheld, chald.
[OE. Anglian cald (WSax. ceald), corresp. to OFris. and OSax. kald (MLG. kold, MD. cold, cout(d-), LG. kold, koold, kool, Du. koud, WFris. kâd, NFris. kuld, kould, Satl. kôld, Wang. kôl, Helig. kûl, EFris. kold), OHG. chalt, kalt, (MHG., mod.G. kalt), ON. kald-r, (Norw. kald, Sw. kall, Da. kold), Goth. kald-s:—OTeut. *kalˈdo-z, originally a ppl. formation (corresponding to Gr. words in -τός, L. -tus) from OTeut. verb-stem kal- to be cold, frigēre, cogn. with L. gel- in gelu, gelidus, OSlav. golatŭ ice. ME. and mod. cold is in origin a midland form, from Anglian cald, later cāld, whence also, with a retained, Sc. cauld, north Eng. caud, caad; the Sax. and Kentish ceald survived in the south to the 14th c. as cheald, cheld, chald.
(The affinities of the various words belonging to this root are here exhibited for reference from their respective places.
I. from stem kal-: i. simply: 1. vb. intr. kal-an, kôl, kalans: cf. ON. kala, OE. calan, whence acale v. 2. n. kal-i-z, OE. cęle, cięle, chill; thence chill a., chill v., chilled, chilling, chilly, chilliness.
II. with suffix -d: 3. adj. kal-d-oz, OE. cald, ceald, cold, cauld, cheald. Thence 4. n. cold. 5. n. kald-în-, OHG. chaltî(n, Ger. kälte, OE. cieldu, ME. † chelde. 6. vb. intr. kald-ôjan, OS. caldôn, OHG. chaltên, OE. caldian, cealdian, to cold; thence vb. acold.
III. from ablaut stem kôl-: 7. adj. kôl-uz, OE. cól cool, cooly, coolness; and with transition to jo- inflexion, OHG. chuoli, Ger. kühle. Thence 8. n. cool. 9. vb. intr. kôlôjan, OS. côlôn, OE. côlian to cool; thence vb. acool, adj. acold. 10. vb. trans. kôljan, OE. cœlan, célan, to kele; thence vb. † akele.
Several other formations occur in the other langs. ON. and LG. have also a weak-grade stem kuld (:—ˈglto), whence ON. n. kuldi, LG. -küllen (sik verküllen) from kuldjan; of this no derivatives occur in Eng.).]
I. literally.
1. The proper adjective expressing a well-known quality of the air or of other substances exciting one of the primary physical sensations, due to the abstraction of heat from the surface of the body: of a temperature sensibly lower than that of the living human body. Admitting degrees of intensity (colder, coldest). a. of the atmosphere, and meteoric conditions.
| c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. John xviii. 18 Stodon..æt gloedum forðon cald wæs and wearmdon hia. c 1000 Ags. Gosp. ibid., And wyrmdon hiᵹ, for þam hit wæs ceald. c 1160 Hatton G. ibid., And wermdan hye, for-þan hit wæs cheald. a 1300 Cursor M. 15910 (Cott.) Þe night it was ful caald. c 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) viii. 29 Wheder þe weder sall be calde or hate. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 86 Coolde [1499 colde], frigidus. 1483 Cath. Angl. 51 A Calde plase, frigidarium. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 140 In the colde wynter and foule wether. 1576 Fleming Panoplie Ep. 352 Without hoare frostes, without snowe, and such like colde meteors. 1601 Shakes. All's Well i. i. 115 When Vertues steely bones Lookes bleake i'th cold wind. 1709 Addison Tatler No. 24 ¶8 A cold Morning. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) VII. 161 In the cold regions of the north. 1816 J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art. II. 59 If the winters and springs be dry, they are mostly cold. 1880 Geikie Phys. Geog. v. xxxi. 349 Round the poles..the climates are coldest. |
b. of material substances which in their natural state communicate this sensation by contact. Often as a descriptive epithet of iron or steel, as the material of a weapon. Hence, such combinations as
ice-cold,
key-cold,
stone-cold. See these words.
| c 1290 Lives Saints (1887) 183 So cold ase a ston. 1297 R. Glouc. (1724) 1 Welles swete and colde. 1576 Fleming Panoplie Ep. 231 Blowe hot and colde breath out of one mouth. 1667 Milton P.L. x. 851 Outstretcht he lay, on the cold ground. 1771 Smollett Humph. Cl. (1796) II. 36 To hazard a thrust of cold iron with his antagonist. 1795 Macneill Will & Jean ii. x, Wi' the cauld ground for his bed. 1816 Scott Old Mort. xvi, Try him with the cold steel. 1833 Marryat P. Simple xxxiii, Others darted cold shot at us. |
c. said of the human body when deprived of its animal heat;
esp. of a dead body, of death, the grave (mingling with b); hence sometimes
= cold in death, dead.
Colloq. phr. to knock, lay (out), etc., cold: to knock (a person) unconscious; to render senseless because of a severe blow or shock; also
fig. (
orig. U.S.).
| c 1340 Cursor M. 7061 (Trin.) Þere mony modir son was colde. c 1386 Chaucer Knt.'s T. 1920 Nowe in his colde graue. c 1400 Destr. Troy 7303 Kild all to kold dethe. 14.. Tundale's Vis. 106 He lay cold dedde as any stan. c 1450 Guy Warw. (C.) 1149 When he sawe þe bodyes colde Of þe knyghtys. 1562 J. Heywood Prov. & Epigr. (1867) 70, I would Thy toung were coold. 1602 Marston Antonio's Rev. ii. iv, Knowing my fathers trunke scarce colde. 1668 R. L'Estrange Vis. Quev. (1708) 99 Solacing her self with her Gallant, before her Husband was thorough cold in the Mouth. 1670 Phil. Trans. V. 2027 The separated Heart of a Cold Animal. 1752 Johnson Rambler No. 190 ¶6 The cold hand of the angel of death. 1805 Scott Last Minstr. ii. xxi, Then Deloraine, in terror, took From the cold hand the Mighty Book. 1829 Massachusetts Spy 22 July (Thornton), I want to lay out [this candidate] as cold as a wedge. 1847 W. T. Porter Quarter Race Kentucky, etc. 45 He picked up an ole axe helve an gin me a wipe aside the hed that laid me cole fur a while. 1847 J. M. Field Drama in Pokerville 93 It is ‘bound’ to lay every thing in the way of architecture west of the Alleghanies ‘out cold’. 1884 ‘Mark Twain’ Huck. Finn xxxvii. 376 It was the sudden surprise of it that knocked us so kind of cold. 1896 Ade Artie xvii. 159 Here's somethin' that'll knock you cold. 1905 R. Beach Pardners v. 127 Some Polack..laid out the quartermaster cold. 1928 F. N. Hart Bellamy Trial iii. 98 ‘What did you do?’ ‘Do? I don't know what I did. It knocked me cold.’ 1930 Wodehouse Very Good, Jeeves! iv. 115 ‘Held them spellbound.’ ‘Knocked 'em, eh?’ ‘Cold,’ said young Tuppy. ‘Not a dry eye.’ 1944 Living off Land iv. 93 The boxer who is not at the peak of training is likely to be laid cold. |
d. said of light not accompanied by heat.
| 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 186 b, As the lyght of y⊇ nyght, a colde and a bareyn lyght. 1859 Jephson Brittany ix. 139 Almost dazzled by the moon's cold rays. |
e. to get (a person) cold, earlier
to get it on (him) cold: to have at one's mercy; to have captured completely.
U.S. colloq. Also
to have (a person) cold.
colloq.| 1908 S. E. White Riverman xlvii. 353 I'll put Heinzman in the pen too. I've got it on him, cold. 1921 ‘Ian Hay’ Willing Horse ix. 166 Strung about as we were, he had us cold. 1924 C. E. Mulford Rustlers' Valley xix. 213 What you doin'? I got you cold. 1928 F. E. Baily Golden Vanity xix, Cynthia's lapping like an angel. You've got London cold. |
2. a. Relatively without heat, of a low temperature; not heated. Hence applied to metals and the like as worked in their natural state instead of when heated. The comparative
colder often means simply ‘less warm, of a lower temperature than some other’; so the superlative
coldest.
cold air: the air outside, as opposed to the hot air of a room.
cold bath,
cold bathing: a bath in cold or unheated water.
| 1725 N. Robinson Th. Physick 222 Having Recourse to the Cold Bath..This Action of Cold Bathing. 1800 tr. Lagrange's Chem. II. 111 Nitric acid dissolves copper well, even cold. 1833 N. Arnott Physics (ed. 5) II. 46 In a clear night the objects on the surface of the earth radiate heat..they consequently soon become colder. 1853 C. M{supc}Intosh Bk. Garden 473 Cold pits for preserving vegetables during winter. Mod. The sun is supposed to be growing colder through loss of its heat. |
b. esp. Used of things that have been prepared with heat, and afterwards allowed to cool.
cold collation, a collation or lunch consisting entirely of such viands;
cold roast, roast meat, kept till cold;
cold treat, a table of cold viands, also
fig. and depreciatively; so
cold kale,
cold porridge, and the like.
| a 1240 Sawles Warde in Cott. Hom. 251 Þat fur ham forbearneð al to colen calde. c 1420 Liber Cocorum (1862) 17 When hit is colde, leche hit with knyves..messe hit forthe on schyves. 1575 Laneham Lett. (1871) 59 Of a dish—az a colld pigeon or so. 1759 Compl. Letter-writer (ed. 6) 227 It was succeeded..by a prodigious cold collation. 1856 Emerson Eng. Traits, Personal Wks. (Bohn) II. 132 The story of Walter Scott's..slipping out every day..to the Swan Inn, for a cold cut and porter. 1883 Lloyd Ebb & Flow II. 149 Picked away daintily at his cold chicken. |
3. a. Of a person: Having the sensation of cold, feeling cold. (Usually in predicate.)
| 1570 Levins Manip. 218 Could to be, frigescere. 1590 Shakes. Com. Err. iv. iv. 33 When I am cold, he heates me with beating. 1870 E. S. Phelps Hedged In xviii. 273, ‘I grew cauld to my shoes.’ 1884 F. M. Crawford Rom. Singer I. 21 One moment you are in danger of being too cold. |
b. Of the chilly or shivering stage in ague.
| 1846 G. E. Day tr. Simon's Anim. Chem. II. 256 Intermittent fever..towards the end of the cold stage. |
4. Of soil: Slow to absorb heat, from its impervious clayey nature and retentiveness of moisture.
| 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xv. xx. 496 In Asturia in Spain is scarce of wyne, of whete, and of oyle: for the londe is colde. 1420 Pallad. on Husb. iii. 1050 The colde or weetisshe lande most sowen be. 1626 Bacon Sylva (1677) §665 It sheweth the Earth to be very cold. 1649 W. Blithe Eng. Improv. Impr. (1652) 96 Sad and moyst strong Clay and Cold. 1665 Phil. Trans. I. 92 Cold weeping Ground. 1806 Gregory Dict. Arts & Sc. I. 514 The worst soil is a cold heavy clay. 1813 Sir H. Davy Agric. Chem. (1814) 178. 1833 New Monthly Mag. XXXVII. 209 On such a cold and lean soil the emotions of domesticity wither. 1877 Pendleton Sci. Agric. 102 Clay soils are cold. |
† 5. Caused or characterized by cold.
Obs.| 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 454 Muche vexed with colde diseases. |
II. fig. † 6. a. In the physiology of the Middle Ages, and down to 17th c.
cold and
hot were (in association with
dry or
moist) applied to the ‘complexion’ of things, including the elements, humours, seasons, planets, properties of herbs and drugs.
Obs. Thus, earth was dry and cold, water moist and cold, air moist and hot, fire dry and hot. So melancholy or choler adust, Autumn, Saturn, were dry and cold; phlegm, Winter, Venus, and the Moon, were moist and cold. In some of these the application is obvious, in others it savours of mysticism.
| c 1050 Byrhtferth's Handboc in Anglia VIII. 299 Eorðe ys ceald & driᵹᵹe. a 1300 Cursor M. 3563 (Cott.) Quen þat sua bicums ald His blode þan wexus dri and cald. 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 767 Þan waxes his kynde wayke and calde. c 1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. i. iii. 12 Oon of þe men is of an hoot complexioun & a moist, þat oþer of a cold complexioun & a drie. 1551 Turner Herbal i. P v b, The vertues of Chokewede..Galene writeth that it is colde and drye in the fyrste degree. 1597 Gerarde Herbal (1633) 805 His root, is cold and dry. 1626 Bacon Sylva (1677) §701 Bole-Arminick is the most cold of them, and..Terra Lemnia is the most hot. 1707 Floyer Physic. Pulse-Watch 391 The Meat produces cold spirits. 1732 Arbuthnot Rules of Diet 257 They are fitter for old People and cold Constitutions than the young and sanguine. |
† b. Opposed to ‘hot’ as applied to taste or to effect on the bodily system: The opposite of pungent, acrid, or stimulating.
Obs.| 1585 Lloyd Treas. Health Y iij, Of these .iiii. cold sedes, Lettyse, Purslayne, white poppye and sanders. 1614 W. B. Philosopher's Banquet (ed. 2) 72 Bitter grapes are colde and stringent. |
7. a. Void of ardour, warmth, or intensity of feeling; lacking enthusiasm, heartiness, or zeal; indifferent, apathetic. Of persons, their affections, and actions.
cold as charity: see
charity.
| c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 95 Heortan, þet calde weren þurh ilefleaste. a 1225 Ancr. R. 400 Ich wolde..þet tu were, i mine luue, oðer allunge cold, oðer hot mid alle. 1382 Wyclif Rev. iii. 15, I wolde thou were coold or hoot. c 1450 tr. T. à Kempis' Imit. i. xxi, For þese goþ not to þe herte..þerfore we remayne colde & slowe. 1523 Ld. Berners Froiss. I. ccviii. 248 He was nat colde to sette forward, but incontinent went to the lorde of Roy. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 264 b, Vnkynde synner, whiche renderest agayne so drye & colde thankes to thy lorde therfore. 1597 Hooker Eccl. Pol. v. lxxix, Their cold affection to God-ward. 1640–1 Kirkcudbr. War-Comm. Min. Bk. (1855) 129 The Committie foirsaid..declares ane cold covenanter to be suche ane persone quha does not his dewtie in everie thing committed to his charge, thankfullie and willinglie. 1711 Steele Spect. No. 38 ¶10 Whether a Man is to be cold to what his Friends think of him. 1727 A. Hamilton New Acc. E. Ind. II. xlvii. 167 Their Incomes are very small, as Charity and Piety are very cold among their Flock. a 1770 Jortin Serm. (1771) VI. vii. 137 A cold request is entitled to a cold answer. 1783 Crabbe Village i. 245 And the cold charities of man to man. 1842 H. Rogers Introd. Burke's Wks. I. 19 He was even slandered in Ireland as a cold friend to his country. |
† b. Free from excitement; unimpassioned; not flurried or hasty; deliberate,
cool.
Obs.| c 1500 Yng. Children's Bk. in Babees Bk. (1868) 23 Be cold of spech, & make no stryfe. 1509 Fisher Wks. 269 His delynge in tyme of perylles and daungers was colde and sobre. 1513 Douglas æneis xi. vii. 104 A man nocht indegest, bot wys and cald. 1611 Shakes. Cymb. ii. iii. 2 Your Lordship is..the most coldest that euer turn'd vp Ace. 1794 Paley Evid. ii. iii. (1817) 88 The production of artifice, or of a cold forgery. |
c. Void of sensual passion or heat.
| 1597 Shakes. Lover's Compl. 315 He preached pure maid and praised cold chastity. 1602 ― Ham. iv. vii. 172. 1610 ― Temp. iv. i. 66 To make cold Nymphes chast crownes. 1602 Warner Alb. Eng. xiii. lxxviii. (1612) 323 And Nature, as in Mules, in all Diuersities is cold. 1722 Pope Chorus Youths & Virgins 23 Chaste as cold Cynthia's virgin light. 1859 Dickens T. Two Cities ii. xvi. 122 She was pretty enough to have been married long ago. You English are cold, it seems to me. 1951 M. McLuhan Mech. Bride (1967) 94/2 When this very frigid aspect of the beauty chorus was being discussed, Ring Lardner is reported to have made his famous remark: ‘Some like 'em cold.’ 1984 New Yorker 3 Sept. 20/2 Olivier..makes his prince something of a cold cod. |
d. Feelingless, cold-blooded; void of emotion.
| 1849 Ruskin Sev. Lamps 2 That sometimes the too cold calculation of our powers should reconcile us too easily to our shortcomings. 1857 Gen. P. Thompson Audi Alt. II. App. 96 The cold, habitual, constitutional belief, that every man who is stronger has a right to take from every man who is weaker. |
e. Colloq. phr. to leave (a person) cold: to fail to interest or excite. (
Cf. F.
cela me laisse froid, G.
das lässt mich kalt.)
| 1857 Geo. Eliot in Westm. Rev. XI. 30 An orator may discourse very eloquently on injustice in general, and leave his audience cold. 1888 H. Sweet Shelley's Nature-Poetry 28 His enthusiasm..leaves us cold. 1927 A. Huxley Proper Studies 173, I..am left cold by ritual, the corybantic emotionalism of revivals. 1967 E. Short Embroidery & Fabric Collage i. 1 Whereas one is uplifting to look at the other leaves one emotionally cold. |
f. Without preparation, preliminary performance, etc.
orig. and chiefly
U.S. Usu.
quasi-adv.| 1896 Ade Artie x. 88 I'm an easy runner till it comes to the high jump and then I quit cold. 1928 Daily Express 5 Sept. 12/5 He had just heard that..a play had opened cold in Philadelphia or somewhere... I told him it meant that it had gone into a big town without a try-out week. 1958 N. Coward Play Parade V. p. xxiii, We were to open [at Drury Lane] ‘cold’, that is without a try-out. |
8. Showing no warm or friendly feeling; the reverse of cordial, affectionate or friendly.
| 1557 Tottel's Miscell. (Arb.) 246 The complaint of a hot woer, delayed with doutfull cold answers. 1601 Shakes. All's Well iii. vi. 121, I spoke with hir but once, And found her wondrous cold. 1673 Wood Life (1848) 184 Dined at my brother Kits, cold meat, cold entertainment, cold reception, cold clownish woman. 1703 Maundrell Journ. Jerus. (1732) 9 Having reason to expect but a cold welcome. 1722 Wollaston Relig. Nat. vi. 142 The husband becoming cold and averse to her. 1760 Voy. W. O. G. Vaughan vii. 158, I have, once more, made my Addresses to Isabella..but she's as cold as a Cucumber. 1833 H. Martineau Loom & Lugger i. iii. 38 Meet cold looks at every turn. 1885 Sir J. Hannen in Law Rep. 10 P. Div. 91 She was excessively cold to her. |
9. fig. Said of things which chill, or depress the vital emotions, and of the feeling thus produced; gloomy, dispiriting, deadening.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 24204 (Cott.) Care clinges in mi hert cald. c 1325 E.E. Allit. P. A. 807 He toke on hymself oure carez colde. c 1340 Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 1982 With ful colde sykyngez. c 1400 Destr. Troy 10385 Neuer kepis þu þi corse out of cold angur. 14.. Sir Beues 3561 (MS. M) Whan he awaked, his hert was colde. c 1485 Digby Myst. (1882) iii. 151 Cast in carys cold. 1596 Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, ii. iii. 32 In very sincerity of fear and cold heart, will he to the King, and lay open all our proceedings. 1625 K. Long tr. Barclay's Argenis ii. ix. 158 Timonides was strucke cold at heart. a 1691 J. Flavel Sea Deliverances (1754) 170 Which gave a colder damp of sorrow to our hearts. 1781 Cowper Conversation 770 She feels..A cold misgiving and a killing dread. |
10. a. Felt as cold by the receiver, chilling, damping, the reverse of encouraging; as in
cold comfort,
cold counsel,
cold news,
† cold rede.
| c 1325 E.E. Allit. P. C. 264 Lorde! colde watz his cumfort. c 1340 Cursor M. 14295 (Trin.) My broþer lazer þi frend is deed, And þat is to me a colde reed. c 1386 Chaucer Nun's Pr. T. 436 Wymmens counseiles ben ful ofte colde; Wommannes counseil brought us first to woo. 1571 Golding Calvin on Ps. x. 14 We receive but cold comfort of whatsoever the Scripture speaketh. 1593 Shakes. 2 Hen. VI, iii. i. 86 Cold Newes, Lord Somerset: but Gods will be done. 1594 ― Rich. III, iv. iv. 536 Colder Newes, but yet they must be told. 1615 A. Niccholes Marriage & Wiving vii. in Harl. Misc. (1744) II. 153 A cold Comfort to go to hot Hell for Company. 1652 Howell Masaniello II. 145 There came cold news from the countrey. 1837 J. H. Newman Par. Serm. (ed. 2) III. ix. 128 It all falls as cold comfort upon them. 1848 Macaulay Hist. Eng. viii, Preston brought cold news from Cumberland and Westmoreland. 1879 Froude Cæsar xxi. 356 The messenger sent to Capua came back with cold comfort. |
b. In
advb. use: without any mitigation; absolutely, entirely.
U.S. slang.| 1889 Kansas Times & Star 24 June, A. D. Taylor..trailed a variety actress..with whom he was infatuated... She shook him cold yesterday. 1905 R. Beach Pardners (1912) iii. 79 We were liable to get turned down cold if we didn't have some story. 1916 H. L. Wilson Somewhere in Red Gap vi. 265 This game where you play cards with yourself and mebbe win a thousand dollars cold. 1953 Times 26 Mar., One of their attacks..was stopped cold by concentrated artillery and mortar fire. 1954 B. Benson Lily in Coffin xxi. 213 I'm not going to quit cold like you... I'll start all over again with the school. |
11. Without power to move or influence; having lost the power of exciting the emotions; stale.
spec. of news.
(In the first
quot. the sense is doubtful:
cf. the same phrase in
Two Gent. iv. iv. 186.)
| [1596 Shakes. Merch. V. ii. vii. 73 Fare you well, your suite is cold.] 1705 Addison Italy, Venice Wks. 1721 II. 37 The jest grows cold even with them too, when it comes on in a second scene. 1843 Carlyle Past & Pr. (1858) 171 The coldest word was once a glowing new metaphor. 1913 E. C. Bentley Trent's Last Case i. 16 Within a week..‘the Manderson story’, to the trained sense of editors..was ‘cold’. 1946 D. L. Sayers Unpop. Opinions 130 The date had to be changed to conceal the fact that the news was already ‘cold’. |
12. a. Hunting. Said of scent in opposition to ‘hot’ or ‘warm’: Not strong, faint; weak.
| 1592 Shakes. Ven. & Ad. 694 The hot sent-snuffing hounds are driuen to doubt..till they haue singled VVith much ado the cold fault cleanly out. 1601 ― Twel. N. ii. v. 134 He is now at a cold sent. 1611 ― Wint. T. ii. i. 151 You smell this businesse with a sence as cold As is a dead-mans nose. 1773 Washington Diaries (1925) II. 100 Touched now and then upon a Cold Scent till we came into Colo. Fairfax's Neck. 1874 in S. Sidney Bk. Horse (1875) 398 When running a cold scent the music [of the hounds] is extremely fine. 1875 Ibid. 476 Where hounds run from grass to plough, it is often found that they decline from racing breast-high to cold hunting. 1878 C. Hallock Sportsman's Gaz. (ed. 4) i. 440 The object is to obtain a fine nose [in a dog], so as to hunt a cold scent. |
b. Of the person chosen to seek or guess, in children's games: distant from the object sought. Also
fig. Cf. warm a. 6.
| 1864 Dickens Mut. Fr. II. vi. 53 ‘That can't be the spot too?’ said Venus. ‘No,’ said Wegg. ‘He's getting cold.’ 1876 ‘Mark Twain’ Tom Sawyer ix. 89 Now they're stuck. Can't find it. Here they come again. Now they're hot. Cold again. 1882 [see hot a. 8 a]. 1887 A. Daly Railroad of Love 17 You are nowhere near it. As the children say in their game— you're ‘cold’. |
13. Sport. Unwounded.
| 1856 ‘Stonehenge’ Brit. Sports i. x. §1 An unwounded deer is called a cold hart. |
† 14. fig. Neglected, unattended to.
Obs.| 1703 Maundrell Journ. Jerus. (1732) Pref., The Papers, after they had lain cold a good while by him. |
15. Painting. Applied to tints or colouring which suggest a cold sunless day, or the colder effect of evening;
esp. to blue and grey, and tints akin to these. Opposed to ‘warm’ colours, into which red and yellow enter.
| 1706 Art of Painting (1744) 400 He is for the most part very cold in his colouring. 1795 Gower Painting in Oil Colours 132 His middle tint, which was made only of black and white, was so very cold, that no other colour but blue would make a colder tint. 1821 Craig Lect. Drawing iii. 172 Colours..are divided by the painter into warm and cold. 1879 O. N. Rood Chromatics xvii. 296 Green is not a colour suggestive of light or warmth, but is what artists call cold. |
III. Combinations.
16. Cold occurs prefixed to another
adj. to indicate the combination of the two qualities. (But Shakespeare's
cold-pale perhaps meant
pale with cold (
n.); later examples may be imitations.)
| 1592 Shakes. Ven. & Ad. 892 With cold-pale weakness numbs each feeling part. 1626 Milton Death Fair Infant 20 With his cold-kind embrace. 1830 Tennyson Dying Swan 12 The cold-white sky. |
17. adverbial and parasynthetic, as
cold-pated,
cold-scented,
cold-skinned,
cold-spirited,
cold-tempered;
cold-blooded;
cold-muttonish, etc.
| 1598 Chapman Iliad iii. 165 Those cold-spirited peers. 1647 H. More Song of Soul To Rdr. 6/1 Some cold-pated Gentlemen. 1718 Cibber Non-juror ii. 94 Stupid, cold-scented Treason. 1804 Edin. Rev. III. 447 Some such cold-tempered..antiquary. 1806 Forsyth Beauties Scotl. IV. 250 Cold-bottomed land scattered in patches on the slopes. 1840 Hood Up Rhine 62 There was such a cold-muttonish expression in his round unmeaning face. 1861 Gen. P. Thompson in Bradford Advertiser 21 Sept. 6/1 Some cold-skinned lizard. |
18. with
pa. pple., expressing the state in which a process is performed: as
cold-drawn (drawn cold, extracted or expressed without the aid of heat; also
fig., unaffected by the emotions, cool, calculated);
cold-cut,
cold-rolled,
cold-served,
cold-swaged, cold-hammered; also
cold drawing,
cold rolling,
cold swaging,
cold tinning,
cold welding.
| 1951 R. Mayer Artist's Hand-bk. Materials iii. 139 Simple solutions of resin in solvents, made without oils and driers, are known in the varnish industry as ‘cold-cut’ varnishes, even though steam heat is occasionally used to accelerate the solution. |
| 1909 Webster, Cold-drawing. 1946 Nature 28 Dec. 930/1 These fibres can then be extended to some four to five times their original length by the process of cold-drawing. |
| 1716 Lond. Gaz. No. 5468/4 Fine Beech Oil cold drawn. 1859 Gullick & Timbs Paint. 207 When oils are expressed without heat, or, as it is termed, ‘cold-drawn.’ |
| 1892 Stevenson & Osbourne Wrecker ix, The little beast means cold-drawn biz. 1898 Kipling in Morn. Post 11 Nov. 5/1 Out of all manner of tight places that require dexterity and a cheek of cold-drawn brass. 1906 Cornford Defenceless Isl. 99 Cotton is the subject of much cold-drawn gambling. 1906 Daily Chron. 10 Feb. 7/1 A detective-sergeant, by relating cold-drawn facts..showed the prisoner to be an unprincipled scoundrel. 1919 Brit. Manufacturer Nov. 24/2 Many successful locomotive builders procure various parts from special manufacturers—for instance, cold-drawn or welded tubes. 1946 Nature 28 Dec. 930/1 X-ray examination of the cold-drawn fibres shows that the crystals have become orientated in a direction parallel to the fibre axis. |
| 1878 Engineering 1 Nov. 347 By comparing hot-rolled and cold-rolled iron of the same kind, under physical stress. 1888 Lockwood's Dict. Terms Mech. Engin. 78 Cold rolled, bars and plates rolled without being previously heated. 1897 Daily News 8 Mar. 2/5 Steel..cold-rolled sheets. 1963 Economist 7 Dec. 1079/1 Cold-rolled [steel] thin plates. |
| 1878 Engineering 1 Nov. 347 The cold rolling is effected by means of a powerful train of the ordinary type. 1888 Lockwood's Dict. Mech. Engin. 78 Cold rolling. The practice of rolling iron plates cold produces a material having a high tensile strength. 1955 Times 4 June 3/4 The cold-rolling firms take steel from the re-rollers..and roll it to the correct gauge... Every engineering trade uses cold rolled strip. |
| 1742 Young Nt. Th. iii. 319 On cold-serv'd repetitions he subsists. |
| 1844 Proc. Amer. Phil. Soc. IV. 47 Iron..which after having been cold-swaged became crystalline. |
| 1877 Encycl. Brit. VII. 799/2 Cold swaging, that is, by hammering it [sc. malleable iron] till cold. |
| 1873 Spon Workshop Rec. i. 337/2 Block tin dissolved in muriatic acid with a little mercury forms a very good amalgam for cold tinning. 1946 Firth-Brown Gloss. Metall. Terms 59 The more recently developed method of cold welding in which pressure alone is applied. Cold welding..is used principally for aluminium and its alloys and not for steel. |
19. Special combinations:
cold abscess [F.
abscès froid], an abscess formed without the first three of the Celsian symptoms of inflammation (pain, redness, heat and swelling);
cold Adam (see
Adam1 2);
cold-bathing, bathing in cold water, taking a cold bath;
cold bed, (
a) in
Gardening, as opposed to hot-bed: see
bed 8 (so
cold frame); (
b)
Metallurgy (see
quot.);
cold-cathode, a cathode that emits electrons at ambient temperature under the influence of a high voltage;
usu. attrib.;
cold charge (
Farriery), see
charge n. 7;
cold chisel (see
chisel 1 c);
cold-cock v. trans., to knock (a person) unconscious (
U.S. slang);
cold coil, an India-rubber pipe wound round an inflamed limb, and giving passage to a stream of cold water;
cold cook slang, an undertaker;
cold cuts orig. U.S. [
tr. G.
kalter Aufschnitt], an assortment of cooked meats, sliced and served cold;
occas. in
sing.;
cold deck U.S. slang, a pack of cards in which the cards have been arranged beforehand; also
fig.; hence
cold-deck v., to cheat (a person) by means of a cold deck; also
fig.; so
cold-decker;
cold douche, a stream of cold water directed against some part of the body as a remedial treatment; also
fig.; hence
cold-douching;
cold feet, in
colloq. (
orig. U.S.)
phr. to get (or have) cold feet, to become cowardly or discouraged; hence
= fear, ‘funk’, cowardice;
cold fish colloq., an emotionless person;
cold-footed a. colloq., timid, cowardly; also
absol.;
cold-footer slang, a timid person;
cold frame Hort., a frame in which small plants are grown and protected without artificial heat (see
frame n. 13 c);
cold front Meteorol., the forward boundary of a mass of advancing cold air;
† cold gout, sciatica;
cold harbour (see
harbour n.1 2 a);
cold house Hort., a glass-house in which plants are grown without artificial heat; also
transf.;
cold light, light that is accompanied by little or no heat,
e.g. luminescence;
cold-livered a., passionless;
cold-pack, a wet pack (see
pack n.1 11) prepared with cold water;
cold-pausing a., pausing for cool consideration;
† cold pie,
cold pig (
colloq.), the application of cold water to wake a person; hence
cold-pig v., to treat in this way;
cold pole, in high latitudes, the place of lowest temperature;
cold punch (see
punch);
† cold roast (
fig.), something of little account (see
roast n.);
cold room Hort., a store-room kept at a very low temperature for the retardation of bulbs and roots;
cold rubber (
orig. U.S.), a synthetic rubber manufactured at a low temperature;
cold saw, one for cutting cold metals (
Cent. Dict. Suppl. 1909);
cold selling orig. and chiefly
U.S., the selling of goods or services by means of an unsolicited approach to prospective customers;
cf. cold calling s.v. cold-call v.;
cold shivers (see
shiver n.);
cold shot, small globules of iron found in chilled portions of a casting (Knight
Dict. Mech. Suppl.,
a 1884);
cold shut,
cold-shut (see
quots. and
shut n. 4);
cold snap (
orig. U.S.) (see
snap n. 7 b);
cold soldering, soldering without heat with the aid of mercury;
cold spot Physiol., a spot upon the skin which is sensitive to cold, but insensitive to warmth, pain, or pressure;
cold starting, the starting of an internal-combustion engine at ambient temperature; also (with hyphen)
attrib. or as adj.;
cold storage (see
storage 2 b); hence
cold store, a refrigerating chamber for the cold storage of perishable foods,
esp. meat;
cold-suttee (see
suttee);
cold sweat (see
sweat);
cold table, (a table bearing dishes of) cold food;
cold treat (
cf. sense 2 b);
† fig. that of which the interest is stale;
cold turkey (see
turkey2);
cold ulcer, an ulcer forming spontaneously on the cold extremities of persons of feeble circulation;
cold wall Phys. Geog. (see
quots.);
cold war, hostilities short of armed conflict, consisting in threats, violent propaganda, subversive political activities, or the like;
spec. those between the
U.S.S.R. and the western powers after the 1939–45 war; also
transf.; hence
cold-warrior;
cold wave (
orig. U.S.), (
a)
Meteorol. (see
wave n. 5 b); (
b) (see
quot. 1949); also
cold permanent wave;
cold well (see
quot.);
cold without (
colloq.), brandy or spirits in cold water without sugar;
cold work Metallurgy, the working of metal when it is cold (see
quots.); hence
cold work v.,
cold-worked ppl. adj.,
cold-working vbl. n.| 1828 Boyer & Craigie Gen. & Pathol. Anat. 43 The *cold abscess of the Surgeons of the Saracen School. 1847 South tr. Chelius' Surgery I. 45 The commencement of cold abscess usually sets in, without any sensibly perceptible local appearance. |
| 1888 Q. Rev. Apr. 291 Sir John Floyer of *cold-bathing notoriety. |
| 1664 Evelyn Kal. Hort. (1729) 197 African Marigolds..will come in the *Cold-bed without Art. 1881 Raymond Mining Gloss., Cold-bed, a platform in a rolling-mill on which cold bars are stored. |
| Ibid. *Cold blast, air forced into a furnace without being previously heated. 1890 Daily News 6 Jan. 2/3 Best Staffordshire hot-blast pigs are 90s., and cold-blast 110s. to 115s. |
| 1929 Proc. Inst. Radio Engin. May 849 (heading) *Cold cathode rectification. Ibid. 850 Cold cathode devices for rectification are essentially identical in that they embody a cathode, of relatively greater surface area than the anode, situated in a suitable gas of the proper density to produce the desired conductivity by ionization. 1930 Engineering 31 Oct. 560/3 Many interesting developments of the original cold-cathode tubes were taking place. 1945 Electronic Engin. XVII. 762 A special cold cathode tube capable of carrying loads of 1,000 to 2,000 amperes at 100 kV. |
| 1725 Bradley Fam. Dict., *Cold-Charges, outward Applications to distemper'd Horses. |
| 1927 Amer. Speech II. 351/1 Cold cocked, to be knocked senseless. ‘Tom was *cold cocked when that rock hit him.’ 1934 J. T. Farrell Young Manhood (1936) iv. 205 They cold-cocked him, and left him unconscious. |
| 1888 tr. Esmarch's Surgeon's Hand-bk. 44 A very great reduction in temperature..can be obtained by the *cold coil. |
| 1729 Universal Spect. 4 Oct. (N. & Q. 5 Oct. 1929, 236/2), He further directs, that no Undertaker, alias *Cold Cook, or Upholder shall have the Management thereof. 1860 Hotten Dict. Slang (ed. 2), Cold cook. |
| 1945 A. Kober Parm Me 113 She suddenly sighted the food on the table and pointed accusingly. ‘Look what he's itting—*cold cotts!’ 1964 W. Markfield To Early Grave (1965) xii. 242 Cold cuts, a roll? It's Sunday, it's hot, she didn't feel like cooking. 1967 N. Mailer Cannibals & Christians i. 13 A cold cut set in the white tray of a refrigerator. 1969 P. Highsmith Tremor of Forgery xvii. 152 A buffet-table of cold cuts. |
| 1857 San Francisco Call 3 Apr. 4/2 He's got the thing all set to ring in a *cold deck. 1876 B. Harte G. Conroy vi. ii, You've been..playin' it very low down on my moral and religious nature, generally ringin' in a cold deck on my spiritual condition. 1884 in Amer. Speech (1942) XVII. 125/2 The miller..kicked because said Serna was trying to cold deck said Sanches. 1902 H. L. Wilson Spenders xi. 123 A man wakes up to find that his natural promptin's has cold-decked him. |
| 1920 C. E. Mulford J. Nelson xv. 163 I've had all th' visitin' I want with a bunch of *cold-deckers. |
| 1835 *Cold douche [see douche n.]. 1925 D. H. Lawrence Refl. Death Porcupine 172 It's no use talking... That ‘subject’ was a cold douche. 1959 Times 11 Feb. 9/1 From official quarters a cold douche was quickly poured on this premature jubilation. |
| 1904 St. George VII. 168 He would have to be an uncommonly sturdy Simon Zelotes whose zeal survived the *cold-douching of schoolboy chaff. |
| 1893 S. Crane Maggie (1896) xiv. 112, I knew this was the way it would be. They got *cold feet. 1896 Ade Artie xii. 108 He's one o' them boys that never has cold feet. 1904 E. Robins Magn. North i. 8 But instead of ‘getting cold feet’ as the phrase for discouragement ran, and turning back, they determined [etc.]. 1914 Rosher In R.N.A.S. (1916) 40, I get awfully cold feet... That puts the fear of God into you. 1915 ‘Ian Hay’ First Hundred Thou. xxi. 329 It seems that the enemy have evacuated Fosse Alley again. Nobody quite knows why: a sudden attack of cold feet, probably. 1962 Times 20 Feb. 11/2 The Algerian leadership might have cold feet at the concessions it has made. |
| 1941 ‘P. Wentworth’ Danger Point (1942) xxvi. 150 He's a *cold fish. No, fish isn't the right creature—I believe they are quite affectionate. 1962 McLuhan Gutenberg Galaxy 19 The Westerner appears..a very cold fish indeed. |
| 1944 G. B. Shaw Everybody's Pol. What's What? xxxvi. 311 In Russia there is the Communist Party with its rules and disciplines and frequent purges of the *coldfooted. 1966 Listener 6 Oct. 517/3 A strangely cold-footed way of presenting such glorious music. |
| 1919 Downing Digger Dial. 17 *Cold footer, a carpet knight. 1920 Hunter Trail Drivers of Texas 429 Two of my men stayed with me, and the third, a ‘cold-footer’, crossed on the bridge. |
| 1851 Mrs. Gaskell Let. 17 Mar. (1966) 833 Papa has bought a new frame..& we are going to have it for a *cold frame to harden out the plants from the hot bed. 1859 Trans. Ill. Agric. Soc. 1857–8 III. 503 The seed for early summer cabbages can be planted in a cold frame early in September. 1877 Field & Forest II. 164 These insects had all gathered along the Northern and Eastern margin [inside] of a ‘cold frame’, in his garden. |
| 1921 Bjerknes & Solberg in Geofysiske Publikationer II. iii. 12 The boundary line at the ground will be the front of advancing cold air, or, to introduce a shorter expression, a ‘*cold front’. |
| 1586 Cogan Haven Health (1636) 149 A very good oyntment..for the Sciatica or *cold goute. |
| 1841 J. W. Loudon Ladies' Compan. Fl. Gard. 60/2 *Cold Houses for Plants are not generally in use, though it is a common practice with gardeners to remove plants from hothouses into the back sheds, in order to retard their blossoming. 1904 Daily Chron. 28 Jan. 6/1 It is the cold-house that has smiled upon them, in the shape of the refrigerated holds of the South African steamers. 1920 Chambers's Jrnl. 384/1 The ‘forced’ and ‘cold-house’ tomato is Guernsey's speciality. |
| 1894 Electrical World 6 Oct. 328 *Cold Light... Apparatus..to produce light by means of high frequency electric currents, without converting most of the energy into heat. 1936 Nature 5 Dec. 974/1 It..makes available a ‘permanent’ source of ‘cold’ light. 1959 Chambers's Encycl. VIII. 723/2 To produce ‘cold light’, or luminescence, the molecules of a substance must be stimulated to emit light by the reception of some form of energy. |
| 1816 Scott Old Mort. xliii, *Cold-livered and mean-spirited. |
| 1909 Practitioner Dec. 866 The *cold-pack is used for from 10 to 15 minutes every hour. |
| 1785 Burns To Jas. Smith xv, *Cold-pausing Caution's lesson scorning. |
| 1966 Cox Dict. Hairdressing, *Cold permanent wave, the transformation of straight hair to curled hair by means of chemicals without the application of heat. |
| 1611 Cotgr., Porter vne chemise blanche à, to giue a mornings camisado, or a *cold pie for a breakfast, vnto. |
| 1834 Hood Tylney Hall (1840) 257 I've often *cold-pigged her of a morning. 1870 M. Bridgman R. Lynne II. v. 117 You deserve ‘cold pig’ for your laziness. |
| 1909 Cent. Dict. Suppl., s.v. Pole2, Pole of cold or *cold pole. 1927 Kendrew Climates of Continents (ed. 2) 167 In Eastern Siberia is situated the ‘cold pole’ of the earth. |
| 1904 Westm. Gaz. 12 Jan. 4/2 In some of the largest nurseries..there exist *cold-rooms or stores, pitch-dark and packed full of lily-of-the-valley crowns, lilies, and other bulbs and plants. |
| 1948 in Amer. Speech (1950) XXV. 64/2 You'll get up to 30 percent more wear out of that set of synthetics when ‘*cold rubber’ is used. 1964 N. G. Clark Mod. Org. Chem. xvii. 356 A recent process, operated at 5°, produces ‘cold rubber’ with improved toughness and elasticity. |
| 1961 in Webster s.v. cold a. 13 b., *Cold selling. 1978 Fortune 28 Aug. 90 It was all cold selling{ddd}We'd walk into a tavern and ask the owner to cook up a Tombstone pizza for his customers. 1986 Los Angeles Times 29 May iv. 2/2 The major addition was a ban on ‘cold selling’ in which customers are given unsolicited calls and told that a review of their records shows a need for additional services. |
| a 1877 Knight Dict. Mech. I. 593/2 *Cold-shut, a term meaning that a link is closed while cold, without welding. 1877 Cold shut [see shut n. 4]. 1887 Scribner's Mag. II. 304/2 A ‘cold-shut’ or split ring..which can be fastened by hammering. |
| 1776 T. Smith Jrnl. (1849) 279 A dismal *cold snap of weather. 1848, 1892 Cold snap [see snap n. 7 b]. |
| 1864 Photographic News 28 Oct. 527/2 A correspondent sends us the following method of *cold soldering. |
| 1895 E. B. Titchener tr. Külpe's Outl. Psychol. 94 Blix and Goldscheider..speak of heat and *cold spots, and regard them as the peculiar terminal organs of the temperature sense, and as independent of the pressure spots. 1901 ― Exper. Psychol. I. i. 57 To ascertain how these organs (warm spots or cold spots) respond to a stimulation. |
| 1930 Economist 5 July 32/2 A new light, high-speed, *cold-starting Diesel engine. 1936 Discovery Apr. 113/1 The engine is of the solid-injection, cold-starting type, and even under the worst climatic conditions it can be started in a few seconds. 1959 Motor Man (ed. 36) iii. 50 Cold starting in winter requires the richest mixture of the whole operating range. |
| 1895 Daily News 29 May 8/4 Extensive *cold-store accommodation had been provided. 1949 Gloss. Terms Refrigeration (B.S.I.) 6 Cold store, an artificially cooled and insulated structure for the purpose of maintaining perishables at a pre-determined temperature. |
| 1955 R. Postgate Good Food Guide 1955–6 185 ‘A wonderful display’ of *cold table, including turkey, grouse, and salmon. 1962 P. Purser Peregrination 22 xvii. 78, I ate more than usual of the cold table. 1964 C. Gavin Fortress iii. 64 Champagne and a ‘cold table’ spread with every kind of delicacy. |
| 1709 Steele & Addison Tatler No. 93 ¶1 [These] are thread-bear Subjects, and *cold Treats. 1742 Jarvis Quix. i. iii. xxvi. (1885) 151 All having been cold-treat with him for many days past. |
| 1870 T. Holmes Surgery (ed. 2) I. 185 *Cold ulcers should be distinguished, because of the peculiarity of constitution on which they depend. |
| 1858 Merc. Mar. Mag. V. 168 The most remarkable peculiarity of the Gulf Stream is what has been..termed the *‘cold wall’, a mass of cold water lying between the warm water and the shore. 1875 Bedford Sailor's Pocket Bk. iv. (ed. 2) 103 The fall of temperature is so sudden that the line of separation has received the distinctive name of the ‘cold wall’; at the surface a difference of 30° has been observed within a cable's length. |
| 1945 ‘G. Orwell’ in Tribune 19 Oct. 8/1 A State which was..in a permanent state of ‘*cold war’ with its neighbours. 1946 Observer 10 Mar. 4/3 After the Moscow Conference last December,..Russia began to make a ‘cold war’ on Britain and the British Empire. 1947 W. Lippmann (title) The cold war. A study in U.S. foreign policy. 1947 N.Y. Times 17 Apr. 21/4 Let us not be deceived—we are today in the midst of a cold war. 1948 Hansard Commons CCCCXLVI. 411 The British Government..should recognize that the ‘cold war’, as the Americans call it, is on in earnest, that the third world war has, in fact, begun. 1950 D. Gascoyne Vagrant 61 Cold war propaganda. 1950 N.Y. Times 5 Feb. 42L/2 A ‘cold war’ was in progress..as the police..dared Georgia's revenue agents to invade Alabama. 1951 W. S. Chalmers Life & Lett. Earl Beatty xvi. 376 The ‘cold war’ which Beatty had to wage throughout his term of office for British maritime security was on two fronts. 1958 Listener 14 Aug. 224/2 World communism..is rejecting a policy of partial disengagement in the cold war. 1964 Ann. Reg. 1963 18 Public concern with cold-war espionage was then at its height with the..conviction in Moscow of a British business man. 1967 Spectator 30 June 757/3 Only in Europe after a decade of cold war..has confrontation given way to the kind of mutually recognised status quo. |
| 1959 Observer 27 Sept. 7/8 Screeching, hysterical cries of *cold warriors. 1969 Guardian 5 Nov. 8/3 It is very hard morally to distinguish between the good guys and the bad guys..for any but the most committed cold warrior. |
| 1876 Pop. Sci. Monthly Nov. 124/1 Low temperatures..developed among the Rocky Mountains, and moved thence, as ‘*cold waves’, over the continent eastward. 1901 Cold wave [see wave n. 5 b]. 1921 Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 10 Apr. 31/6 A cold wave that struck Eastern Nebraska last night continued to prevail today. 1949 Britannica Bk. of Yr. 687/1 Cold wave, a type of permanent hair waving, in which ammonium thioglycollate is generally used. 1956 A. Waldhorn Conc. Dict. Amer. Lang. 33 Cold wave,..in hairdressing, a chemical process used to create a permanent wave. 1965 Times 22 Feb. 9/4 After the heavy snowfall..the cold wave spread, causing freezing conditions in orange groves. |
| 1859 Rankine Steam Eng. §337 In land engines the injection water [for the condenser] comes from a tank called the *cold well, surrounding the condenser. |
| 1850 N. & Q. Ser. i. II. 82/2 A glass of *‘cold without’..understood to mean brandy and cold water without sugar. 1853 Lytton My Novel vi. xx. (D.), Fame, sir! not worth a glass of cold without. |
| 1899 Jrnl. Iron & Steel Inst. LVI. 197 By *cold work is meant work performed below the critical range. Ibid. 198 Cold work distorts the grains or crystals of steel, flattening them and elongating them. Ibid., The lower the temperature the more pronounced the effect of cold working. 1903 H. H. Campbell Iron & Steel (ed. 2) ii. xv. 408 Cold worked steel showing lines of flow. 1911 Inst. Civil Engin., Minutes CLXXXIII. 405 The microscopic properties of cold-worked iron. 1917 Amer. Soc. for Testing Materials II. 156 (heading) Light versus Heavy Reductions in Cold Working Brass. 1932 Discovery June 191/1 As we ‘coldwork’ the metal. 1942 J. N. Greenwood Gloss. Metall. Terms (ed. 2) 12 Cold work, the plastic deformation of metals at temperatures below that at which recovery and recrystallisation would take place. Ibid. 13 Cold work can be regular as in wire drawing, cold rolling, etc., or irregular as in hammering, deep drawing, cold heading. 1946 Firth-Brown Gloss. Metall. Terms 9 Steels containing 0·7–0·85% carbon are often cold-worked. Ibid. 18 Cold-working, a method of conferring strength by means of plastic deformation below the annealing or recrystallization temperature. |
Add:
[19.] cold dark matter Astron., dark matter consisting of weakly interacting particles whose random motion soon after the big bang was negligible.
| [1984 Primack & Blumenthal in NATO ASI Ser. C CXVII. 166 We will consider here the physical and astrophysical implications of three classes of elementary particle D[ark] M[atter] candidates, which we will call hot, warm, and cold. (We are grateful to Dick Bond for proposing this apt terminology.).. Cold DM consists of particles for which free streaming is of no cosmological importance.] 1984 Astrophysical Jrnl. CCLXXXV. l39 (title) Fine-scale anisotropy of the cosmic microwave background in a universe dominated by *cold dark matter. 1986 Sci. Amer. Dec. 57/3 The cold-dark-matter hypothesis has forged a strong link between particle physics and cosmology. 1993 Time 18 Jan. 49/3 Both [axions and WIMPS] are known..as cold dark matter (cold refers not just to their temperature but also to the fact that they move slowly..). |
cold fusion, nuclear fusion taking place at temperature lower than ordinarily required,
spec. at or near room temperature.
| [1981 Acta Physica Polonica B. XII. 230 The realization of the idea of the cold nuclear fusion catalysis with the help of heavy stable particles requires either creation of new generation methods, or discovery of such particles in a ‘ready state’ in Nature.] 1982 G. Münzenberg in N. M. Edelstein Actinides in Perspective 241 The nuclei formed in the chosen target projectile combinations need no extra energy above the Coulomb barrier to undergo fusion. So we have a new hope, to reach the island of superheavy nuclei by *cold fusion of 48Ca and 248Cm. 1989 Los Angeles Times 24 Mar. i. 20/1 More recently, Jones has concentrated his research in the ‘cold fusion’ process like that announced Thursday by his colleagues at the University of Utah. 1991 Chron. Higher Educ. 20 Feb. a10/4 A group that initially reported confirmation of cold fusion and then retracted its report when the scientists realized their neutron counter was giving erroneous measurements. 1992 Wilson Q. Spring 59 Many supposed ‘breakthroughs’ are only beginnings, and some have little more substance than cold fusion. |
▸
cold case n. orig. U.S. an unsolved criminal investigation which remains open pending the discovery of new evidence.
| 1985 Los Angeles Times (San Diego County ed.) 11 July ii. 2/2 Miami police were unable to find any further evidence, and the ‘torso’ killing was retired to the ‘*cold case section’, where unsolved crimes lie dormant. 2003 H. C. Lee & F. Tirnady Blood Evid. iv. 80 DNA can survive under favorable conditions for tens of thousands of years at least, certainly longer than the average unsolved cold case. |
▸
cold one n. colloq. a cold bottle, can, or glass of beer.
| 1918 W. A. White In Heart of Fool l. 604 Tell 'em to come over and have a *cold one on me. 1962 A. J. Marshall & R. Drysdale Journey among Men 54 Bottles and cans discarded along the way,..wrapped in wet paper, a few ‘cold ones for the road’. 2006 Times (Nexis) 10 June 23 All we have to do is kick back, turn on the telly, crack open a cold one and enjoy. |
▪ II. cold, n. (
kəʊld)
Forms: see
prec. [OE. cald, ceald, neut., n. use of the adjective. Cf. Gothic kald, Ger. kalt, similarly derived. But the cognate langs. generally have in this sense a derivative n. on OTeut. type *kaldîn-, OHG. chaltî, Ger. kälte, OFris. kelde, Du. koude; cf. OE. celdu, cieldu, ME. chelde, now obs.] 1. The opposite or the absence of heat; coldness.
a. esp. said of the state of the atmosphere or physical environment, and usually spoken of as a positive agent, perceptible by the sensation which it produces, and by its effects on living things.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 8620 (Cott.) Caald [Gött. cold] has slan it, i mistru. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. v. lxvi. (1495) 183 Heeres..to kepe and saue the brayne fro colde. c 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) xiv. 65 At þe north syde of þe werld, whare comounly es mare intense calde. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 86 Coold, substantyfe, frigus. 1570 Levins Manip. 218/35 Y⊇ could, frigus. 1579 Spenser Sheph. Cal. Feb. 3 The kene colde blowes through my beaten hide. 1611 Bible Gen. viii. 22 Seed-time and haruest, and cold, and heat, and Summer, and Winter, and day and night, shall not cease. 1626 Bacon Sylva (1677) §68 Heat and Cold are Natures two hands, whereby she chiefly worketh. 1725 De Foe Voy. round World (1840) 250 English wheat..will by no means thrive for want of moisture and cold. 1794 Ritson's Scot. Songs I. 157 (Jam.) 'Tis not sic cauld that makes me cry. 1833 N. Arnott Physics (ed. 5) II. 14 The inferior degrees of heat are denoted by the term ‘cold’. 1858 Lardner Hank-bk. Nat. Phil., Hydrost. etc. 308 The greatest natural cold of which any record has been kept, was that observed by Professor Hanstean between Krasnojarsk and Nishne-Udmiks in 55° N. lat., which he states amounted to -55° (Reaum. ?) = -91·75 F. |
b. said of other objects: Coldness.
| c 1386 Chaucer Knt.'s T. 1942 The colde of deþe þat had him overcome. 1821 Shelley Prometh. Unb. i. 33 The bright chains Eat with their burning cold into my bones. |
c. In
Physics, commonly applied to a temperature below the freezing-point of water (32° Fahr. or
zero of Centigrade and Réaumur), as 15
degrees of cold (or
of frost).
d. (with
a and
pl.): A cold state of the weather, a low temperature, a frost.
| 1626 Bacon Sylva (1677) §744 We see that in great Colds, one can scarce draw his Breath. 1664 Evelyn Kal. Hort. (1729) 218 [Plants] not perishing but in excessive Colds. 1796 Morse Amer. Geog. I. 97 One hundred winters or colds. 1876 Freeman Norm. Conq. IV. xvii. 62 The colds and storms of January did not hinder him from sending messengers. |
e. to be left out in the cold: to be left out of doors without shelter;
fig. to be intentionally neglected, to be left to shift for oneself.
| 1861 N.Y. Tribune July (Farmer), The ‘Assents’ continue to come in freely..and the appearances are that at the closing of the books..there will be few shares or bonds left out in the cold. 1879 Escott England I. 451 The unfortunate traveller who..comes by a slow train, often finds himself left out in the cold [at a railway refreshment room]. 1886 D. C. Murray 1st Person Sing. xx. 153 A distant relative..and he left her out in the cold. 1915 W. S. Maugham Of Human Bondage xxvii. 116, I have a sort of sympathy for Mahomet, I regret that you should have left him out in the cold. 1943 H. Read Politics of Unpolitical iii. 44 Except for poets laureate and political propagandists like Virgil and Pope, they [sc. poets] have always been left out in the cold. |
2. The sensation produced by loss of heat from the body, or by exposure to a temperature sensibly lower than that of the body. Hence
† to have cold: to be cold, to feel or suffer cold.
| c 1300 Cursor M. 28904 (Cott. Galba MS.) When þou sese any haue hunger or calde. c 1300 Havelok 416 He greten ofte sore, Boþ for hunger and for kold. 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xi. 276 Neither kirtel ne cote þeigh þey for colde shulde deye. 1470–85 Malory Arthur xx. xix, Lete vs kepe oure stronge walled Townes vntyl they haue hongre & cold and blowe on their nayles. 1530 Palsgr. 307/2 Chyveryng as one dothe for colde, frilleux. 1647 W. Browne tr. Polexander ii. 346 The most violent cold of an Ague puts not a man into such an estate as he was, by the excess of his passion. 1786 Burns Twa Dogs 82 They maun starve o' cauld and hunger. 1828 Scott Tales Grandf. Ser. ii. xxxviii, The mother and infant..perishing with cold. |
3. fig. A state of feeling comparable to the physical sensation of cold; lack of zeal, enthusiasm, or heartiness; dispiritedness, depression.
| 1616 S. Ward Coal from Altar (1627) 52 Such as forsake the best fellowship, and waxe strange to holy assemblies..how can they but take cold? 1648 Bp. Hall Breathings Devout Soul (1851) 159 Ah, my Lord God, what heats and colds do I feel in my soul! 1667 J. Flavel Saint Indeed (1754) 143 It is because we suffer our hearts to take cold again. 1849 Robertson Serm. Ser. i. ii. (1866) 22 The cold of human desertion. |
4. An indisposition of the body caused by exposure to cold.
a. gen.| c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 60 He..died þer for colde in Lumbardie o chance. c 1450 Poem in Rel. Ant. I. 196 Ȝyff thow hawe cold in thi hede. 1494 Fabyan vi. ccxii. 227 Swanus..went to Jherusalem..and dyed by the waye of colde that he had taken of goynge barefote. 1545 R. Ascham Toxoph. i. (Arb.) 49 If he..haue taken colde in his arme. 1545 T. Raynalde Byrth Mankynde 113 By dysease in the brestes, or by takyng of colde in the same. 1842 Tennyson Morte d' Arthur 166, I fear My wound hath taken cold, and I shall die. |
b. esp. An inflammatory condition of the mucous membrane of the respiratory organs, accompanied by catarrh, hoarseness, and cough. Hence,
to catch, get or take (a) cold,
have a cold, etc.
When mainly confined to the nose and pharynx, it is a ‘cold in the head’; when accompanied with running at the eyes, a ‘crying cold’. (See also
catch v. 42, etc.)
| 1537 State Papers Hen. VIII, iv. (1836) 91 If I take any cold, incontinent the lax commythe agayne. 1597 Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, iii. ii. 193. 1609 B. Jonson Sil. Woman iii. i, One that has catched a cold, sir, and can scarce be heard six inches off. 1679 Lond. Gaz. No. 1436/4 His Majesty..has been indisposed for some days by a Cold he took. 1747 Wesley Prim. Physic (1762) Introd. 22 Obstructed Perspiration (vulgarly called catching Cold) is one great source of Diseases. 1751 Johnson Rambler No. 154 ¶19 All whom I entreat to sing are troubled with colds. 1751 Eliza Heywood Betsy Thoughtless IV. 287 Lady Loveit, having got a cold, had complained of some little disorder. 1871 Sir T. Watson Princ. & Pract. Physic (ed. 5) II. 55 Suffering under what is popularly called ‘a crying cold’. 1872 W. Aitken Sc. & Pract. Med. (ed. 6) II. 725 The symptoms of ‘a common cold’. 1886 Morley Crit. Misc. III. 17 The people of..St. Kilda believed that the arrival of a ship in the harbour inflicted on the islanders epidemic colds in the head. |
5. Comb. a. objective, as
cold-braving,
cold-catching,
cold-producing,
cold-taking;
b. instrumental, as
cold-crumpled,
cold-drenched,
cold-engendered,
cold-foundered,
cold-nipt,
cold-slain, etc.;
c. cold-proof, proof against cold;
cold-cure.
| 1826 Miss Mitford Village Ser. ii. 412 That..*cold-braving, shade-seeking plant. |
| 1824 Ibid. Ser. i. (1863) 159 The clothes-spoiling, the *cold-catching. |
| 1954 I. Murdoch Under Net iv. 62, I could get free board and lodging in exchange for being a guinea pig in a *cold-cure experiment. 1969 Times 21 Feb. 10/7 Several cold cures and cough syrups on public sale contain phenylpropanolamine. |
| 1649 G. Daniel Trinarch., Hen. V, cclxxx, The *cold-drench't Soyle Verdant with Glorie. |
| 1626 T. H[awkins] Caussin's Holy Crt. 23 If a little Planet happen to be eclypsed, who can tell the newes thereof, but some *Coldfoundred Mathematician..in the shady obscurityes of the night. |
| 1826 H. H. Wilson tr. Vikrama & Urvasi 93 Her soft cheek was paler than the leaf *Cold-nipped and shrivelled. |
| 1889 Pall Mall G. 6 July 2/3 The aggregate daily *cold-producing effect. |
| 1856 Kane Arct. Expl. I. xxvii. 354 A nearly *cold-proof covering. |
| 1596 R. L[inche] Diella (1877) 78 That long hath knockt *cold-staruen at thy dore. |
| 1621 Sanderson Serm. I. 181 That *cold-taking [is] but the occasion of the ague. |
▪ III. cold, v. Also 4
coold.
[OE. *caldian, cealdian, to become cold, f. cald, ceald, cold a. Cf. deriv. acealdian, acold. See also keld v.] 1. intr. To become cold. (Also
fig.) Also, to be cold.
| a 1000 Riming Poem 69 (Gr.) Eorþmæᵹen ealdaþ, ellen cealdaþ [MS. cólaþ]. c 1320 Sir Beues 4603 Er her body be-gan to colde. c 1374 Chaucer Troylus v. 1671 Ful sodeynli his herte gan to colde. c 1380 Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 438 Charite of many cooldiþ. c 1400 Pol. Rel. & L. Poems (1866) 220 Whanne þe ffet coldeth. c 1450 Lonelich Grail xiii. 828 Sone his herte be-gan to colde. 1885 T. H. Huxley Let. 30 Mar. in L. Huxley Life & Lett. of T. H. H. (1900) II. 101 It blew and rained and colded for eight-and-forty hours consecutively. 1908 T. Hardy Time's Laughingstocks (1909) 26, I kissed her colding face and hair, I kissed her corpse. |
2. trans. To make cold; to chill.
| c 1385 Chaucer L.G.W. Prol. 240 His loking dooth myn herte colde. ? a 1400 Morte Arth. 3519 Thowe coldis myne herte! 1598 R. Haydocke tr. Lomazzo's Artes v. 193 The selfe same power of washing, colding, heating, and burning. |