CHILL

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does chill mean? 

• CHILL (noun)
  The noun CHILL has 4 senses:

1. coldness due to a cold environment

2. an almost pleasurable sensation of fright

3. a sensation of cold that often marks the start of an infection and the development of a fever

4. a sudden numbing dread

  Familiarity information: CHILL used as a noun is uncommon.

• CHILL (verb)
  The verb CHILL has 3 senses:

1. depress or discourage

2. make cool or cooler

3. loose heat

  Familiarity information: CHILL used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• CHILL (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Coldness due to a cold environment

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

chill; gelidity; iciness

Hypernyms ("chill" is a kind of...):

cold; coldness; frigidity; frigidness; low temperature (the absence of heat)

Derivation:

chill (loose heat)

chill (make cool or cooler)

chilly (appreciably or disagreeably cold)

Sense 2

Meaning:

An almost pleasurable sensation of fright

Classified under:

Nouns denoting feelings and emotions

Synonyms:

chill; frisson; quiver; shiver; shudder; thrill; tingle

Context example:

a frisson of surprise shot through him

Hypernyms ("chill" is a kind of...):

fear; fearfulness; fright (an emotion experienced in anticipation of some specific pain or danger (usually accompanied by a desire to flee or fight))

Sense 3

Meaning:

A sensation of cold that often marks the start of an infection and the development of a fever

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Synonyms:

chill; shivering

Hypernyms ("chill" is a kind of...):

symptom ((medicine) any sensation or change in bodily function that is experienced by a patient and is associated with a particular disease)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A sudden numbing dread

Classified under:

Nouns denoting feelings and emotions

Synonyms:

chill; pall

Hypernyms ("chill" is a kind of...):

apprehension; apprehensiveness; dread (fearful expectation or anticipation)

Derivation:

chill (depress or discourage)

• CHILL (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they chill    ... he / she / it chills   
Past simple: chilled   
Past participle: chilled   
-ing form: chilling   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Depress or discourage

Classified under:

Verbs of feeling

Context example:

The news of the city's surrender chilled the soldiers

Hypernyms (to "chill" is one way to...):

cast down; deject; demoralise; demoralize; depress; dismay; dispirit; get down (lower someone's spirits; make downhearted)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something

Sentence example:

The bad news will chill him

Derivation:

chill (a sudden numbing dread)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Make cool or cooler

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

chill; cool; cool down

Context example:

Chill the food

Hypernyms (to "chill" is one way to...):

alter; change; modify (cause to change; make different; cause a transformation)

Cause:

chill; cool; cool down (loose heat)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "chill"):

quench (cool (hot metal) by plunging into cold water or other liquid)

ice (put ice on or put on ice)

refrigerate (cool or chill in or as if in a refrigerator)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Sentence example:

They chill the water

Derivation:

chill (coldness due to a cold environment)

chilling (the process of becoming cooler; a falling temperature)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Loose heat

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

chill; cool; cool down

Context example:

The air cooled considerably after the thunderstorm

Hypernyms (to "chill" is one way to...):

change state; turn (undergo a transformation or a change of position or action)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s

Sentence example:

The water chills

Derivation:

chill (coldness due to a cold environment)

chilling (the process of becoming cooler; a falling temperature)

 Context examples 

Warmer, saltier water from the depths is ferried to the surface, where air chills it and makes it denser than the water below.

(Data from robotic drifters explain mysterious holes in Antarctic sea ice, National Science Foundation)

An acute, spreading infection of the deep tissues of the skin and muscle that causes the skin to become warm and tender and may also cause fever, chills, swollen lymph nodes, and blisters.

(Cellulitis, NCI Dictionary)

"Is it a chill? Shall I light the grate?"

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

Signs and symptoms include pain, tenderness and reddening in the affected area, fever, chills, and lymphadenopathy.

(Cellulitis, NCI Thesaurus)

Symptoms include: • Fever and chills • Swollen glands or lymph nodes • A rash with painful, red, tender skin.

(Cellulitis, NIH: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases)

Complaints describing a pattern similar to influenza, and may include fever, chills, muscle or body aches, cough, sore throat, rhinitis or fatigue.

(Flu-Like Symptoms, NCI Thesaurus)

It includes fever, chills, body aches, malaise, loss of appetite and dry cough.

(Flu-Like Symptoms, NCI Thesaurus/CTCAE)

Functional Assessment of Multiple Sclerosis (FAMS) Additional Concerns: I am bothered by the chills.

(FAMS - Bothered by Chills, NCI Thesaurus)

You may also have fever, nausea, vomiting, chills, cramping, and constipation.

(Diverticulosis and Diverticulitis, NIH: National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases)

Representative examples include fever, chills, fatigue, weakness, and weight loss.

(Constitutional Symptom, NCI Thesaurus)