chill

noun

1. (countable, uncountable)A moderate, but uncomfortable and penetrating coldness.

   “There was a chill in the air.”

   “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.”

   “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.”

2. (countable, uncountable)A 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.

   “Close the window or you'll catch a chill.”

   “I felt a chill when the wind picked up.”

3. (countable, uncountable)An uncomfortable and numbing sense of fear, dread, anxiety, or alarm, often one that is sudden and usually accompanied by a trembling nerve response resembling the body's response to biting cold.

   “Despite the heat, he felt a chill as he entered the crime scene.”

   “The actor's eerie portrayal sent chills through the audience.”

   “His menacing presence cast a chill over everyone.”

4. (countable, uncountable)An iron mould or portion of a mould, serving to cool rapidly, and so to harden, the surface of molten iron brought in contact with it.
5. (countable, uncountable)The hardened part of a casting, such as the tread of a carriage wheel.
6. (countable, uncountable)A lack of warmth and cordiality; unfriendliness.

   “However, the chill between the two giants did not last long; every constituency except the Westernizers found virtue in warming up to China.”

   “His eyes are cold, and the chill between us twists in the pit of my stomach.”

7. (countable, uncountable)Calmness; equanimity.

   “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.”

   “A heated, in-door pool flanked by sumptuous daybeds where dark-slated walls, fiber-optic mood lighting, underwater sound system, and soothing waterfall deliver serious chill.”

   “From the very start of the interview, Lawrence's manic energy proved that she had absolutely no chill.”

   “Granted, Tyrese put himself out there by even posting the video, knowing the internet has no chill.”

8. (countable, uncountable)A sense of style; trendiness; savoir faire.

   “Will and Grace still have no chill; having a pillow fight in the Oval Office proves that.”

   “Angelina left Brad, which upsets me because I'm human," said Corden, adding that Netflix had chill, but the FBI had "zero chill."”

   ““Las Vegas has glitz, but Palm Springs has chill,” Stone said.”

9. (countable, uncountable)A chilling effect; an atmosphere of this.

   “It was a courageous move by these activists, still living in the chill of the Cold War, to face red-baiting for holding protests that turned Washington's charges against the Cuban Revolution back on the U.S. government.”

10. (Cornwall, obsolete)A kind of lamp that burns fish oil.

    “There is a last antiquity, and perhaps not least interesting, in "the Chill" or fish oil lamp, peculiar to Cornwall and a remote age, which now I lay before you. These lamps are rarely, very rarely seen, never in use, and passing from the memories of all but the very aged.”

adj

1. Moderately cold or chilly.

   “A chill wind was blowing down the street.”

   “Noisome winds, and blasting vapours chill.”

2. Unwelcoming; not cordial.

   “Arriving late at the wedding, we were met with a chill reception.”

3. (slang)Calm, relaxed, easygoing.

   “The teacher is really chill and doesn't care if you use your phone during class.”

   “Paint-your-own ceramics studios are a chill way to express yourself while learning more about your date's right brain.”

   ““I might put it on if someone’s asking me a question I don’t want to answer. It’s like playing the character of an obnoxious, but chill, girl.””

4. (slang)"Cool"; meeting a certain hip standard or garnering the approval of a certain peer group.

   “That new movie was chill, man.”

5. (slang)Okay, not a problem.

   “Sorry about that. —It's chill.”

verb

1. (transitive)To lower the temperature of something; to cool.

   “Chill before serving.”

2. (intransitive)To become cold.

   “In the wind he chilled quickly.”

3. (transitive)To harden a metal surface by sudden cooling.
4. (intransitive)To become hard by rapid cooling.
5. (intransitive, slang)To relax; to lie back; to take things easy.

   “Chill, man, we've got a whole week to do it; no sense in getting worked up.”

   “The new gym teacher really has to chill or he's gonna blow a gasket.”

   “A time to live and a time to die / A time to break and a time to chill / To act civilized or act real ill”

6. (intransitive, slang)To "hang", hang out; to spend time with another person or group.

   “Hey, we should chill this weekend.”

   “He likes to chill with his friends on Saturdays.”

7. (intransitive, slang)To smoke marijuana.

   “On Friday night do you wanna chill?”

8. (figuratively, transitive)To discourage, depress.

   “Censorship chills public discourse.”

contraction

1. (West-Country, contraction, obsolete)I will

   “Chill not let go, zir, without vurther 'casion”

   “Yet since their eyes make hart so sore, hey ho, chill love no more.”

name

1. (abbreviation, acronym, alt-of)Acronym of CCITT High Level Language.
2. A surname.