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, 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, 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^[1], Milwaukee, Wis.: Journal Sentinel, →ISSN, →OCLC, 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
• Portuguese: jogar um balde de água fria (pt)

See also

• rain on someone's parade

Further reading

• Colin McIntosh, editor (2013), “throw cold water on sth”, in Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, 4th edition, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, retrieved 14 February 2017, reproduced in the Cambridge English Dictionary website, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• “throw cold water on”, in Collins English Dictionary.
• “pour/throw cold water on”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present, reproduced from Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, 11th edition, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 2003, →OCLC.