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View synonyms for cold sweat

cold sweat

noun

  1. a chill accompanied by perspiration, caused by fear, nervousness, or the like.


cold sweat

noun

  1. informal.
    a bodily reaction to fear or nervousness, characterized by chill and moist skin
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


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Word History and Origins

Origin of cold sweat1

First recorded in 1700–10
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Idioms and Phrases

see in a cold sweat .
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Example Sentences

I put Taylor Swift on in my earbuds, licked cold sweat from my lip, and returned to the steady pace I’d begun the race with.

He said his temperature rose by one degree 30 minutes after the shot and when he woke up for his midnight shift at NBC, he experienced cold sweats and a headache which he said is “not normal” for him.

The clinic told him that fatigue and the cold sweats were normal side effects of the vaccine.

I remember waking up 12 or 13 years ago in the middle of the night in a cold sweat.

When the cold sweat of the bad review dried, another feeling followed that was not at all unpleasant.

A mist came before his eyes, the cold sweat stood upon his ashy face, his limbs failed him, and he sunk upon his knees.

A cold sweat broke out on my forehead, for I already loved this woman too much not to be overwhelmed by the suspicion.

My mouth was dry, and I could feel cold sweat trickling down my spine.

I could not speak, my pulse scarcely beat at all; a cold sweat bathed me from head to foot.

Your son, moreover, gives you a cold sweat, if your razors happen to be out of their place.

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

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Coldstream Guardscold tone