Idiom
cold turkey
Meaning
A sudden and complete withdrawal from a dependent substance, especially a drug.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Examples
“He quit smoking cold turkey last month.”
“After years of heavy drinking, she decided to stop cold turkey rather than cut down gradually.”
“The recovering addict, trembling in the clinic's harsh light, had chosen to go cold turkey rather than accept the slower, medicated path to sobriety.”
Examples
simple
“He quit smoking cold turkey last month.”
contextual
“After years of heavy drinking, she decided to stop cold turkey rather than cut down gradually.”
complex
“The recovering addict, trembling in the clinic's harsh light, had chosen to go cold turkey rather than accept the slower, medicated path to sobriety.”
Origin
The origin of the phrase is subject to various explanations, several of which are detailed in the Wikipedia entry for cold turkey. The term first appeared in the early 20th century.
Key words
Related idioms
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