cōld1, a.
a. [compar. COLDER; superl. COLDEST.] [A-S. cald, ceald, O. Sax. cald, Icel. kaldr, Goth. kalds, Ger. kalt, Dan. kold, Sw. koll, D. koud, from Icel. kala, to blow cold, akin to Lat. gelu, cold, frost, gelare, to freeze.]
Sense 1. Deprived of heat; not warm or hot; gelid; frigid. “The snowy top of cold Olympus.” Milton.
Sense 2. Lacking the sensation of warmth; suffering from the absence of heat; chilly; shivering; as, to be cold.
Sense 3. Having cold qualities; not acrid.
Cold plants have a quicker perception of the heat of the sun than the hot herbs. Bacon.
Sense 4. Wanting in ardor, intensity, warmth, zeal, or passion; spiritless; unconcerned; reserved. “Out of work, and cold for action.” Shak. “A cold and unconcerned spectator.” Burnet.
No cold relation is a zealous citizen. Burke.
Sense 5. Wanting in power to excite or move; dull; ineffectual.
What a deal of cold business doth a man misspend the better part of his life in? B. Jonson.
The jest grows cold . . . when it comes on in a second scene. Addison.
In cold blood, without excitement or passion; deliberately; without compunction. “He was slain in cold blood after the fight was over.” W. Scott. — Cold shoulder, deliberate and marked neglect or contempt.
Sense 6. Free from vicious appetites; chaste; virtuous.
Synonyms— Gelid; bleak; frigid; chill; indifferent; unconcerned; spiritless; reserved; coy.