chill
(chĭl)
[Middle English chile, from Old English cele.]
noun
- A moderate but penetrating coldness.
- A sensation of coldness, often accompanied by shivering and pallor of the skin.
- A checking or dampening of enthusiasm, spirit, or joy: bad news that put a chill on the celebration.
- A sudden numbing fear or dread.
adjective
- Moderately cold; chilly: a chill wind.
- Not warm and friendly; distant: a chill greeting.
- Discouraging; dispiriting: “Chill penury repressed their noble rage” (Thomas Gray)
verb: chilled, chill·ing, chills.
transitive verb
- To affect with or as if with cold.
- To lower in temperature; cool.
- To make discouraged; dispirit.
- Metallurgy To harden (a metallic surface) by rapid cooling.
intransitive verb
- To be seized with cold.
- To become cold or set: jelly that chills quickly.
- Metallurgy To become hard by rapid cooling.
- Slang
- To calm down or relax. Often used with out.
- To pass time idly; loiter. Often used with out.
- To keep company; see socially. Often used with out.
derivatives
- chilĺing·ly
- adverb
- chilĺness
- noun
