cold

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
cold/kəʊld/

▶adjective

• 1 of or at a low or relatively low temperature.

• 2 lacking affection or warmth of feeling; unemotional.

  ■ not affected by emotion; objective.

• 3 (of a colour) containing pale blue or grey and giving no impression of warmth.

• 4 (of a scent or trail) no longer fresh and easy to follow: the trail went cold.

  ■ (in children's games) far from finding or guessing what is sought.

• 5 without preparation or rehearsal.

• 6 informal unconscious: she was out cold.

▶noun

• 1 a low temperature; cold weather; a cold environment.

• 2 a common infection in which the mucous membrane of the nose and throat becomes inflamed, causing running at the nose and sneezing.

– phrases
catch a cold informal encounter difficulties.
cold comfort poor consolation.
cold feet loss of nerve or confidence.
the cold shoulder a show of intentional unfriendliness; rejection.
in cold blood without feeling or mercy.
in the cold light of day when one has had time to consider a situation objectively.
leave someone cold fail to interest or excite someone.
out in the cold ignored; neglected.

– derivatives
coldish adjective,
coldly adverb,
coldness noun.

– origin OE cald, of Gmc origin; rel. to L. gelu ‘frost’.