catch (one) cold

1. To surprise someone with something. In this usage, a noun or pronoun is always used between "catch" and "cold." News that I'd gotten the promotion really caught me cold—I didn't think they were seriously considering me for it! That car coming around the corner sure caught me cold. Thank goodness I was able to jump back onto the sidewalk in time! Ugh, these big companies love to catch us cold with hidden fees.

2. To surprise an opponent in order to gain an advantage. If we can catch their defense cold, we should be able to tie the game. Good luck catching their goalie cold—he's only one of the best in the league. They run such an aggressive offensive so that they catch the other team cold.

See also: catch, cold

catch cold

To become ill with the common cold. I hate going to the doctor's office—I always seem to catch cold after being around all those germs! You'll definitely catch cold if you leave the house with wet hair—it's freezing outside! When we spend a lot of time with the grandkids, we inevitably catch cold—or worse.

See also: catch, cold

catch cold

and take cold

Fig. to contract a cold (a common respiratory infection.) (Use with catch is more frequent.) Please close the window, or we'll all catch cold. I take cold every year at this time.

See also: catch, cold

catch cold

Also, catch one's death (of cold). Become infected with a cold virus, contract a bad cold, as in Jane manages to catch cold on every important business trip, or Put on your hat or you'll catch your death. The first term originally (16th century) meant becoming chilled by exposure to cold and took on its present meaning in the late 1600s. The hyperbolic variant, often shortened, is somewhat newer.

See also: catch, cold

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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References in periodicals archive

Here's how you put it: "That warm rooms made people tender and apt to catch cold is a mistake." You cited as examples our ability to "leap out of the warmest bed naked in the coldest morning, without any such danger; and in the same manner out of warm clothes into a cold bed" without catching a cold.

Dear Dr. Franklin

There are hundreds of cold viruses, so once one infects you, you should develop resistance but as there are hundreds of cold viruses, you will still catch colds. Gradually, your resistance will improve and colds will occur less frequently.

The Doctor

A Kleenex spokesman said: "Unfortunately colds are a fact of life - previous Kleenex research has shown that families are five times more likely to catch colds over winter than those without children.

Advice for parents is not to be sneezed at..

Clinical Director of Pharmacy Alison Ewing ismarking the first ever European Antibiotic Awareness Day today with a call to stop any unnecessary prescriptions as people catch colds over the winter.

Warning on antibiotics

Health chiefs say as the weather turns colder, people of all ages become more likely to catch colds or flu and if their body temperature drops, there is more risk of a heart attack, stroke or breathing difficulties.

Keeping warm is key to health in a cold snap; CARE TRUST

Happy people are less likely to catch colds. When they do go "achoo," they don't suffer as much as their grumpy counterparts, a new study has found.

Happy, healthy, and wise?

John Thornberry, council head of older people services, said: "We are all more likely to catch colds or flu as the weather gets colder and if your body temperature drops, the risk of heart attack, stroke or breathing difficulty increases.

Warm to safety

I know it's good for the immune system to catch colds and fight them and I know we all need herd exposure to fight bugs effectively, but surely one cold a year is enough?

Home truths