 10. Cold English Idioms from espressoenglish.net You know the basic meaning of the word cold, but do you know these 10 idioms? 1. Stop or quit something cold turkey This expression means to stop doing something suddenly and completely, instead of gradually decreasing it over time. We most often use this expression for quitting smoking, although it can also be used for other bad or addictive habits like drinking alcohol, gambling, and video games. For example, last March I quit smoking cold turkey and I haven't had a cigarette since. 2. Your Blood Runs Cold If your blood runs cold, it means you suddenly experience a strong feeling of fear, panic, or horror. For example, my blood ran cold when I heard that there had been several murders in the park where I often go on the weekends. 3. Stop Cold To stop cold means to stop movement suddenly and completely. For example, we were walking in the forest and we stopped cold when we saw a snake in the path. 4. Give Someone the Cold Shoulder This idiom means to treat someone in an unfriendly way and or ignoring them, usually on purpose because you don't like the person or because they have done something to make you dislike them. For example, after Bill made an offensive joke at work, his colleagues have all been giving him the cold shoulder. 5. Out Cold If someone is out cold, it means the person is deeply sleeping or unconscious. This can be used for both natural sleep and for when someone faints, loses consciousness, or is knocked out, loses consciousness because of an impact to the head. For example, my son was out cold in the car. He didn't even wake up when I carried him to his bed. 6. Get Cold Feet If you get cold feet, it means you get nervous or afraid about something you had planned to do and you start questioning if you actually want to do it or not. Sometimes people who get cold feet actually cancel and sometimes they overcome their nervousness and go ahead with the planned action. For example, I'd like to go skydiving but I know I'd get cold feet in that moment right before jumping out of the plane. 7. Cold Call This idiom is mostly used in business and networking. A cold call is a telephone call to someone who you have never met. This expression can be used as either a noun or a verb. For example, the sales team makes cold calls to prospective customers and tries to convince them to buy the product. 8. Cold Comfort If something is cold comfort, it means it was supposed to make you feel better about a situation but it did not make you feel better. For example, getting the $1 million life insurance benefit was cold comfort after her husband died. 9. A Cold One This is a slang expression meaning a cold beer. For example, after a hard day's work I just like to relax on the couch with a cold one. 10. Pour or Throw Cold Water on Something This idiom refers to an action that discourages something or reduces excitement for it. For example, the boss threw cold water on our proposal by saying we didn't have the budget to implement it. Idioms are very common in casual spoken English. To learn more, join my English Idioms course. You can click on the link in the video or in the description to sign up. This course uses quizzes to help you discover the idioms in context and includes practice exercises so that you can review and use what you've learned.