cold water
4
6.3
- noun
- Informal
:
agua fría
- His negative comments were like pouring cold water on everyone's excitement for the project.
- throw cold water
- pour cold water
- splash cold water
Examples
-
While I appreciate your enthusiasm, I must pour cold water on this idea due to its impracticality.
-
Recent research has thrown cold water on this claim.
Blog text (10) -
Yet here was Churchill, ready to pour cold water on the American public's postwar exaltation.
Academic text (2011) -
I don't want to pour cold water on your plans, but you should think carefully about the risks.
Antonyms
How Discouraging
Surface Forms
Morphology
cold + water
The figurative meaning 'discouragement that dampens enthusiasm' is metaphorically motivated by the literal property of cold water cooling or dampening something, so a learner who knows 'cold' and 'water' can plausibly infer the sense. However, mapping the physical image to an emotional/ evaluative meaning requires figurative reasoning and may not be fully predictable for all B1 learners without exposure, so it is only partially transparent.
Etymology
Cold water comes from the simple image of pouring cold water on a hot fire or warm thing to cool it down. So when someone 'throws cold water on' a plan today, they are 'discouraging' it or trying to stop people's excitement.