cold blood, in

cold blood

slang Beer. Let's meet up at the bar tonight for some cold blood.See also: blood, cold

in cold blood

Ruthlessly and without feeling any remorse. Typically said of a murder that is committed in a calm and deliberate manner. This was no crime of passion—he killed them in cold blood, as they slept!See also: blood, cold

in cold blood

Fig. without feeling; with cruel intent. (Frequently said of a crime, especially murder.) The killer walked up and shot the woman in cold blood. How insulting! For a person to say something like that in cold blood is just horrible.See also: blood, cold

in cold blood

In a purposely ruthless and unfeeling manner, as in The whole family was murdered in cold blood. This expression alludes to the notion that blood is the seat of emotion and is hot in passion and cold in calm. The term therefore means not "in the heat of passion," but "in a calculated, deliberate manner." [Late 1500s] See also: blood, cold

in cold blood

COMMON If a person kills someone in cold blood, they kill them in a calm and deliberate way, rather than in anger or self-defence. They murdered my brother. They shot him down in cold blood. She was executed in cold blood while her boyfriend looked on helplessly. Note: You can describe a killing or a killer as cold-blooded. This is just another attempt to excuse the cold-blooded murder of an innocent woman. It was clear to Blackburn that she was a cold-blooded killer. Note: People use these expressions to express shock or horror at a killing. Note: In medieval times, some people believed that certain emotions changed the temperature of the blood. See also: blood, cold

in cold blood

without feeling or mercy; ruthlessly. According to medieval physiology blood was naturally hot, and so this phrase refers to an unnatural state in which someone can carry out a (hot-blooded) deed of passion or violence without the normal heating of the blood. Compare with make your blood curdle and make your blood run cold (at blood).See also: blood, cold

in cold ˈblood

deliberately and calmly, without showing any pity: The innocent victims were shot in cold blood. OPPOSITE: in the heat of the moment ▶ ˌcold-ˈblooded adj.: a cold-blooded murderSee also: blood, cold

cold blood

and cold coffee n. beer. How would you like a little cold blood to start things off? See also: blood, cold

in cold blood

mod. without feeling; with cruel intent. Rocko kills in cold blood and never gives it a thought. See also: blood, cold

in cold blood

Deliberately, coldly, and dispassionately.See also: blood, cold

cold blood, in

Calculatedly ruthless. This expression comes from the days when it was commonly believed that blood rules the temper and was boiling hot when one was excited and ice-cold when one was calm. The French call it sang-froid, a term taken over in English with the same meaning. Thus Byron wrote of Don Juan, “Cross-legg’d with great sang-froid among the scorching ruins he sat smoking.” In more recent times Truman Capote used the term as the title of a detailed account (1965) of a deliberate act of murder.See also: cold