Winter Idioms

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Winter won’t officially come for another month, but here in England the days are getting shorter and the weather colder. We’re turning on the central heating, digging out our scarves and gloves, and sipping hot chocolate. With that in mind, here are twenty five idioms about cold weather to learn while nestled under a cosy blanket!

  1. a cold snap – a sudden and brief period of cold weather
  2. a snowball’s chance in hell – no chance at all
  3. as pure as driven snow – innocent, virtuous, flawless
  4. cold comfort – not much of a comfort, an insufficient consolation
  5. cold light of day – a time and place from which problems can be objectively considered
  6. in cold blood – ruthlessly
  7. left out in the cold – neglected
  8. on thin ice – in an unstable or risky situation
  9. snowball effect – an escalating process, something that starts off small but grows very quickly as it picks up momentum
  10. the tip of the iceberg – the small detectable part of a much larger and hidden problem
  11. to add fuel to the fire – to intensify a conflict, to make a bad situation worse
  12. to be snowed under – to be overloaded with work
  13. to break out in a cold sweat – to sweat due to fear or anxiety
  14. to break the ice – to do or say something to relieve the tension
  15. to freeze one’s blood – to be filled with sudden fear or horror
  16. to freeze someone out – to exclude or reject someone from a group
  17. to freeze up – to find yourself unable to do/say anything because of panic
  18. to get cold feet – to lose your nerve
  19. to give someone the cold shoulder – to snub someone, to be intentionally unfriendly
  20. to go cold turkey – to abruptly and completely give something up
  21. to go hot and cold – to feel suddenly shocked or scared
  22. to pour/throw cold water on something – to discourage/put a stop to something
  23. to put something on ice – to put something aside for the moment, to delay something
  24. under the weather – unwell or in low spirits
  25. when hell freezes over – never

If you enjoyed this post, why not check out our other articles about idioms?


27 Nov 2017
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