View synonyms for

in cold blood

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Idioms and Phrases

In a purposely ruthless and unfeeling manner, as in The whole family was murdered in cold blood . This expression alludes to the notion that blood is the seat of emotion and is hot in passion and cold in calm. The term therefore means not “in the heat of passion,” but “in a calculated, deliberate manner.” [Late 1500s]

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

"Murdering a white kid in cold blood seems acceptable to some," Charlie Kirk of Turning Point USA declared.

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"They were murdered in cold blood, bare hands," Mr Bibas said, remembering how the men holding him used to taunt him over his family's fate.

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One bereaved father told the BBC that his son was killed "in cold blood".

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"They killed innocent people in cold blood who had nothing to do with any of this."

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But a further claim from Israel that Ariel and Kfir had been "murdered by terrorists in cold blood" will further inflame feelings in Israel.

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

incoherent in cold storage

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