Meaning of cold In English

• 0 at a low temperature, especially when compared to the temperature of the human body, and not hot, or warm:

  • a cold day/house

  • cold food/water

  • cold hands

  • cold weather

  • My feet are so cold.

  • It's freezing cold today.

  • You'll feel cold if you don't wear a coat.

• 1 not showing kindness, love, or emotion and not friendly:

  • His handshake was cold, and his eyes lifeless.

  • He stared into her cold, blue eyes.

  • She would never feel welcome in this city with its cold, unsmiling inhabitants.

  • The school was a cold, unwelcoming place.

• 2 If a case (= a crime or series of events) that is being investigated is cold, it has not been solved and is no longer expected to be solved:

  • The police spared no effort to keep the case from going cold.

  • At the time of his confession, the trail was turning cold, and investigators had given up on ever catching the killer.

• 3 a common infection, especially in the nose and throat, that causes you to cough and sneeze and your nose to run (= drip liquid) or feel blocked:

  • I've got a cold.

  • She caught a cold at school.

  • UK informal Don't come near me - I've got a stinking/streaming cold (= extremely bad cold).

• 4 cold weather or temperatures:

  • Don't stand out there in the cold, come in here and get warm.

  • Old people tend to feel the cold (= feel uncomfortable in cold temperatures) more than the young.

  • My feet were numb with cold.

• 5 having a low temperature, esp. when compared to the temperature of the human body, and not hot or warm:

  • cold weather

  • I forgot my gloves and my hands are getting cold.

• 6 not showing or influenced by affection, kindness, or feeling; not friendly:

  • a cold greeting/reception

• 7 a common infection, esp. in the nose and throat, which often causes you to sneeze and cough, to feel tired, and sometimes to have pain in the muscles:

  • I’m afraid I’m catching a cold.

• 8 The cold is cold temperature or cold weather:

  • Don’t stand out there in the cold – come in here and get warm.