chill

chill¹ [tʃıl] n

1.) [singular]

a feeling of coldness

▪ There was a slight chill in the air .

morning/autumnal/January etc chill

▪ Suddenly aware of the morning chill, she closed the window.

chill of

▪ He sat in the chill of the evening, staring out over the city below.

▪ I turned on the heater in the hall to take the chill off the house (=to heat it slightly) .

2.)

a sudden feeling of fear or worry, especially because of something cruel or violent

▪ The sound of his dark laugh sent a chill through her.

chill of fear/apprehension/disquiet etc

▪ Fay felt a chill of fear as she watched Max go off with her daughter.

▪ There was something in his tone that sent a chill down Melissa's spine (=made her very frightened) .

3.)

a)

an illness which causes a slight fever, headache, and ↑shivering (=slight shaking of the body)

▪ Let's get these wet clothes off you before you catch a chill .

b) [C usually plural]

a feeling of being cold, caused by being ill

chill ²

chill² v

[Date: 1300-1400; Origin: chile 'coldness' (11-15 centuries), from Old English cele]

1.) [I and T]

if you chill something such as food or drink, or if it chills, it becomes very cold but does not freeze

▪ a glass of chilled white wine

▪ Spoon the mixture into a pudding basin and chill for at least two hours.

▪ The longer this salad chills, the better the flavour.

2.) also chill out [i]informal

to relax completely instead of feeling angry, tired, or nervous

▪ 'Hold it! Just chill for a second, won't you!'

▪ I spent the afternoon chilling out in front of the TV.

3.) [T]

to make someone very cold

▪ The wind blew across her body, chilling her wet skin.

chilled to the bone/marrow

(=extremely cold)

▪ Come and sit by the fire - you look chilled to the bone.

4.) [T] literary

to suddenly frighten someone, especially by seeming very cruel or violent

▪ The anger in his face chilled her.

chill sb to the bone/chill sb to the marrow/chill sb's blood

(=frighten somebody a lot)

▪ He jerked his head round and saw something that chilled his blood.

chill ³

chill³ adj [usually before noun]

unpleasantly cold

▪ the chill night air

▪ a chill wind