throw cold water on

throw cold water on

English

WOTD – 1 June 2017

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /θɹəʊ kəʊld ˈwɔːtə(ɹ) ɒn/, /θɹəʊ kɔʊld ˈwɔːtə(ɹ) ɒn/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /θɹoʊ koʊld ˈwɔtɚ ɑn/, /θɹoʊ koʊld ˈwɔɾɚ ɑn/

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

• Hyphenation: throw cold wa‧ter on

Verb

throw cold water on (third-person singular simple present throws cold water on, present participle throwing cold water on, simple past threw cold water on, past participle thrown cold water on)

1. (transitive, idiomatic) (of an achievement, emotion, idea, suggestion, etc.) to belittle or dismiss; to cast doubt upon; to debunk.
   • 1815 December 23, [Jane Austen], chapter XVII, in Emma: A Novel. In Three Volumes, volume III, London: Printed for John Murray, published 1816, OCLC 23920035, page 329:

     Oh! no; there would be a Mrs. Knightley to throw cold water on every thing.—Extremely disagreeable!

   • 1904, Arthur M. Winfield (Edward Stratemeyer), “Something about the Military Academy”, in The Rover Boys in Camp: or The Rivals of Pine Island (Famous Rover Boys' Series), New York, N.Y.: Grosset & Dunlap, OCLC 5330101, page 49:

     "Now, Peleg, don't throw cold water on my enthusiasm," said Tom reproachfully.

   • 2008 January 15, Don Walker, “Forget the wind chill. How 'bout that windfall?: With the Packers' season in double overtime, Brown County businesses are seeing green”, in Milwaukee Journal Sentinel‎, Milwaukee, Wis.: Journal Sentinel, ISSN 1082-8850, OCLC 55506548, archived from the original on 9 March 2016:

     Sports economists tend to throw cold water on such studies, saying they often rely on unreliable or exaggerated data.

Synonyms

• pour cold water on

Translations

to belittle or dismiss

Chinese: Cantonese: 潑冷水, 泼冷水 (put3 laang5 seoi2) Mandarin: 潑冷水／泼冷水 (zh) (pōlěngshuǐ) Finnish: kaataa kylmää vettä niskaan, tyrmätä (fi) Galician: tirar auga fría sobre

See also

• rain on someone's parade

Further reading

• “throw cold water on sth” in Colin McIntosh, editor, Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, 4th edition, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013, →ISBN; reproduced on the Cambridge English Dictionary, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, retrieved 14 February 2017.
• “throw cold water on”, in Collins English Dictionary.
• “pour/throw cold water on”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary