Ice-cold describes something so cold that it feels like ice, or nearly freezing. When you grab an ice-cold glass of lemonade on a sweltering summer day, it's cold enough to make your hand tingle. An ice-cold swimming pool might make you hesitate before jumping in, even when you're hot and sweaty.

The word works literally for temperature: ice-cold water straight from the refrigerator, an ice-cold metal railing on a winter morning. But it also describes a person's manner or attitude. When someone gives you an ice-cold stare, their expression is so unfriendly and unwelcoming that it feels like a blast of frigid air. An ice-cold reception means people aren't being warm or hospitable.

Sometimes athletes talk about having ice-cold nerves or staying ice-cold under pressure, meaning they remain perfectly calm and focused even in tense moments, as if their emotions are frozen in place. A basketball player with an ice-cold demeanor might sink the winning shot without showing any nervousness at all.