Chill Meaning
/tʃɪl/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounA moderate, but uncomfortable and penetrating coldness.
nounA sudden penetrating sense of cold, especially one that causes a brief trembling nerve response through the body; the trembling response itself; often associated with illness: fevers and chills, or susceptibility to illness.
Sentence Examples
The chill of coming winter discouraged our picnic.
I have a chill.
CEFR Practice Quiz
A sudden cold ____ in the air made everyone grab their jackets quickly.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
There was a slight ____ in the air as soon as the sun went down today.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English chele, chile, from Old English ċiele, ċele (“cold; coldness”), from Proto-West Germanic *kali, from Proto-Germanic *kaliz, from Proto-Indo-European *gel- (“to be cold”). Closely related with Dutch kil. Also akin to cool, cold, gel, and congeal, which see.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Energy has seldom been found where we need it when we want it. Ancient nomads, wishing to ward off the evening chill and enjoy a meal around a campfire, had to collect wood and then spend time and effort coaxing the heat of friction out from between sticks to kindle a flame. With more settled people, animals were harnessed to capstans or caged in treadmills to turn grist into meal."
— 2013 July-August, Henry Petroski, “Geothermal Energy”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 4:
"A breezy winter chill is likely for MLK Weekend across the Southeast. […] A steady northwest breeze will keep wind chills in the teens and single digits for the remainder of your weekend."
— 2021 January 16, Derek Van Dam, “Northeast will be wet and chilly while Southern California should sizzle during holiday weekend”, in CNN:
"However, the chill between the two giants did not last long; every constituency except the Westernizers found virtue in warming up to China."
— 1998, Ilya Prizel, National Identity and Foreign Policy, →ISBN:
"His eyes are cold, and the chill between us twists in the pit of my stomach."
— 2014, Tammara Webber, Between the Lines, →ISBN:
"For those of us who relate to that furious paddling in some form (whether we choose to conceal it below the surface or not), we are probably also aware of what, besides the water, we are really clashing against: a culture of chill."
— 2017 October 12, Rebecca Okin, “Okin ’19: Chill culture isn’t cool”, in The Brown Daily Herald:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
A sudden cold ____ in the air made everyone grab their jackets quickly.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
There was a slight ____ in the air as soon as the sun went down today.