throw cold water on
English
WOTD – 1 June 2017
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /θɹəʊ kəʊld ˈwɔːtə(ɹ) ɒn/, /θɹəʊ kɔʊld ˈwɔːtə(ɹ) ɒn/
- (General American) IPA(key): /θɹoʊ koʊld ˈwɔtɚ ɑn/, /θɹoʊ koʊld ˈwɔɾɚ ɑn/
Audio (AU) (file) - Hyphenation: throw cold wa‧ter on
Verb
throw cold water on (third-person singular simple present throws cold water on, present participle throwing cold water on, simple past threw cold water on, past participle thrown cold water on)
- (transitive, idiomatic) Of an achievement, emotion, idea, suggestion, etc.: to belittle or dismiss; to cast doubt upon; to debunk.
- 1815 December 23, [Jane Austen], chapter XVII, in Emma: A Novel. In Three Volumes, volume III, London: Printed for John Murray, published 1816, OCLC 23920035, page 329:
- Oh! no; there would be a Mrs. Knightley to throw cold water on every thing.—Extremely disagreeable!
- 1904, Arthur M. Winfield (Edward Stratemeyer), “Something about the Military Academy”, in The Rover Boys in Camp: or The Rivals of Pine Island (Famous Rover Boys' Series), New York, N.Y.: Grosset & Dunlap, OCLC 5330101, page 49:
- "Now, Peleg, don't throw cold water on my enthusiasm," said Tom reproachfully.
- 2008 January 15, Don Walker, “Forget the wind chill. How 'bout that windfall?: With the Packers' season in double overtime, Brown County businesses are seeing green”, in Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Milwaukee, Wis.: Journal Sentinel, ISSN 1082-8850, OCLC 55506548, archived from the original on 9 March 2016:
- Sports economists tend to throw cold water on such studies, saying they often rely on unreliable or exaggerated data.
-
Synonyms
Translations
Further reading
- “throw cold water on sth” in Colin McIntosh, editor, Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, 4th edition, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013, →ISBN; reproduced on the Cambridge English Dictionary, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, retrieved 14 February 2017.
- “throw cold water on” in the Collins English Dictionary, Glasgow: HarperCollins Publishers.
- “pour/throw cold water on” in Merriam–Webster Online Dictionary.
This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.