Crossword Dictionary

What's The Definition Of Chill?

\Chill\ (ch[i^]l), n. [AS. cele, cyle, from the same root as celan, calan, to be cold; akin to D. kil cold, coldness, Sw. kyla to chill, and E. cool. See {Cold}, and cf. {Cool}.] 1. A moderate but disagreeable degree of cold; a disagreeable sensation of coolness, accompanied with shivering. ``[A] wintry chill.'' --W. Irving. 2. (Med.) A sensation of cold with convulsive shaking of the body, pinched face, pale skin, and blue lips, caused by undue cooling of the body or by nervous excitement, or forming the precursor of some constitutional disturbance, as of a fever. 3. A check to enthusiasm or warmth of feeling; discouragement; as, a chill comes over an assembly. 4. An iron mold or portion of a mold, serving to cool rapidly, and so to harden, the surface of molten iron brought in contact with it. --Raymond. 5. The hardened part of a casting, as the tread of a car wheel. --Knight. {Chill and fever}, fever and ague.
\Chill\, a. 1. Moderately cold; tending to cause shivering; chilly; raw. Noisome winds, and blasting vapors chill. --Milton. 2. Affected by cold. ``My veins are chill.'' --Shak. 3. Characterized by coolness of manner, feeling, etc.; lacking enthusiasm or warmth; formal; distant; as, a chill reception. 4. Discouraging; depressing; dispiriting.
\Chill\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Chilled} (ch[i^]ld); p. pr. & vb. n. {Chilling}.] 1. To strike with a chill; to make chilly; to cause to shiver; to affect with cold. When winter chilled the day. --Goldsmith. 2. To check enthusiasm or warmth of feeling of; to depress; to discourage. Every thought on God chills the gayety of his spirits. --Rogers. 3. (Metal.) To produce, by sudden cooling, a change of crystallization at or near the surface of, so as to increase the hardness; said of cast iron.
\Chill\, v. i. (Metal.) To become surface-hardened by sudden cooling while solidifying; as, some kinds of cast iron chill to a greater depth than others.