Idiom
give someone the cold shoulder
Meaning
To snub, resist or reject somebody; to regard somebody distantly.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Examples
“Don't give me the cold shoulder just because I made a mistake.”
“After their argument at the party, she gave him the cold shoulder for the rest of the night.”
“Despite his repeated attempts to apologize for the misunderstanding, his former business partner continued to give him the cold shoulder throughout the meeting.”
Examples
simple
“Don't give me the cold shoulder just because I made a mistake.”
contextual
“After their argument at the party, she gave him the cold shoulder for the rest of the night.”
complex
“Despite his repeated attempts to apologize for the misunderstanding, his former business partner continued to give him the cold shoulder throughout the meeting.”
Origin
Coined or popularised by Sir Walter Scott in The Antiquary (1816) as 'cauld shouther'; the story about serving guests cold mutton shoulder is folk etymology.
Key words
Related idioms
- Level
- B1 · Intermediate
- Updated