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Glite Dictionary
❄️ A short freeze 🧙 A freezing magic
cold spell

cold spell

1 3.5
A short period of unusually cold weather
  • noun
  • /koʊld spɛl/
  • UK
: ola de frío
  • In weather, the city remains in the grip of a cold spell.
  • heat waves and cold spell
  • waves and cold spell

And So what we see if we look at history is that the cold spells in global climate have always been far worse than warm spells.

Examples

  • "It was a nice, sunny day in January after we had experienced a terrible, cold spell that had lasted since December 26, 1946," recalls retired ARS scientist Owen Hugh Graham of Mission, Texas.

    Academic text (1996)

  • This is a record cold spell.

    Fiction book (1991)

  • That cold spell still grips the Northeast.

    Miami Vice: Brother's Keeper (1984)

  • I panicked a few weeks ago during a cold spell and washed our exterior windows.

    Blog text (16)

  • I do hope we won't have any unseasonable cold spells.

    My Fair Lady (1964)

  • The baby came along in late November during a severe cold spell that just happened to coincide with the peak of the waterfowl season in that part of the country.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • Many farmers are worried about the effects of the cold spell on their crops this season.

  • During the cold spell, temperatures dropped to below freezing across the region.

  • Residents are advised to prepare for a sudden cold spell arriving this weekend.

Synonyms

freeze
vscold spell
44 1.4

A time when it is cold enough for water to turn to ice

focuses on unusually low temperatures even when liquids do not become solid
cold weather
vscold spell
25 1.0

A period when the air is much colder than usual

is specifically short in time rather than a long period of low temperatures
cold snap
vscold spell
  • UK
6 3.2

A short sudden time of very cold weather that is colder than usual

is similar but without the sudden onset, just a short period of low temperatures

Antonyms

heat wave
30 3.2

A period of very hot weather that lasts several days

How Cold

deep freeze
  • UK
2 4.3
cold wave
  • UK
1 4.0
cold spell
  • UK
1 3.5
chill
87 1.0
cool
65 1.0

Surface Forms

cold spell singular
cold spells plural

Morphology

cold + spell

The meaning is directly compositional: 'cold' describes the effect and 'spell' denotes a magical incantation, so together they mean a spell that produces cold. This modifier+noun pattern is straightforward and common in fantasy vocabulary and in other languages, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would readily infer the meaning.

Etymology

Cold spell comes from weather talk where spell means a 'short period of time'. It paints a simple picture of a short time of cold, so it means 'a period of unusually cold weather'.