in cold blood
50
7.1
- idiom
:
a sangre fría
- So I decided to kill him right then, in cold blood.
- kill in cold blood
And the thought of killing me in cold blood fills you with disgust, doesn't it?
- And the thought of killing me in cold blood fills you with disgust, doesn't it?
- Who then goes on to kill in cold blood mercilessly.
- And she was literally slain in cold blood by this woman, Caitlin Armstrong, who split.
- No, just murdered him in cold blood.
- At the same time, the terrorists of the organize Ation Consul were strengthening their network and had assassinated a public figure in cold blood.
Examples
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In 2009, my little brother murdered our mother in cold blood, and I found her.
Blog text (8) -
Not one of these things can explain the murder of two children in cold blood.
Blog text (17) -
So you killed that man in cold blood?
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I had seen guns before, but never a man shot in cold blood.
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Shooting these poor young people in cold blood was something terrible and crazy; we would burn in hell!
Fiction book (1997) -
Killing a woman in cold blood is completely different from killing a man in battle!
Fiction book (1993) -
13 children murdered in cold blood.
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Murdering innocent people in cold blood is simply unacceptable to me.
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He murdered his love rival in cold blood.
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The detective revealed that the suspect had murdered the victim in cold blood, showing no signs of remorse.
Synonyms
19
4.3
In a calm way that shows little worry or emotion
18
6.6
To act without pity and treat people very harshly
1
9.9
In a cold way that shows no care for other people's feelings
1
8.4
In a calm, cruel way without feeling sorry
1
8.1
In a way that shows no pity for others
How Remorseless
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase uses a metaphoric composition: 'cold' (emotionally unresponsive) combined with 'blood' (inner disposition) yields a sense of unemotional, deliberate action. Although the exact criminal/violent nuance ('without pity when committing harm') is somewhat idiomatic and may require exposure, the general meaning is inferable from the constituents and is mirrored in many languages (e.g. Spanish 'a sangre fría', French 'à sang froid'), so it is only partly opaque.
Etymology
In cold blood may come from the image of someone whose blood is cold, like a cold-blooded animal that shows no feelings. So, it now means 'doing something calmly and without pity'.