to catch cold
10
1.0
- phrasal verb
:
resfriarse
- If you don't wear a coat in this weather, you might catch cold.
- want you to catch cold
- afraid you'll catch cold
- fear of catching cold
You're going to catch a cold or you're going to catch cold.
- You're going to catch a cold or you're going to catch cold.
Examples
-
You better come away from the window, you might catch cold.
-
I always catch cold after I've been wet or had a chill.
-
When I was almost fifteen, Mother and I caught cold.
Fiction book (1998) -
I hope you don't catch cold.
-
I don't want you to catch cold.
-
You won't catch cold, will you?
-
But no, my only thought was I'd likely catch cold in such a damp and chilly spot.
Fiction book (1995) -
You might catch cold.
-
"Adele," he said, "get up or you'll catch cold."
Fiction book (1992) -
You'll catch cold.
Synonyms
378
1.0
Become ill and have signs like fever or cough
18
1.0
To become sick with a common illness that makes your nose and throat sore
9
5.6
To become sick suddenly
5
3.0
Begin to feel ill
Antonyms
How Sick
11
4.5
5
3.3
9
5.6
10
1.0
3
1.8
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly derivable from 'catch' (to become affected) + 'cold' (the illness), so a B1 learner who knows both words can infer 'become ill with a cold.' This construction is cross-linguistically common (e.g. Spanish 'coger/atrapar un resfriado', French 'attraper un rhume') and follows straightforward compositional logic.
Etymology
Catch cold comes from the simple idea of catching something like a ball, but the thing you pick up is the cold, often after being wet or near someone who is sick. So it means 'to become ill with a cold'.