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cold turkey

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Cold Turkey DVD
(1971) DickVanDyke's Classic! Playable on WorldWide DVD
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cold turkey

 
Use cold turkey in a Sentence
–noun Informal.
1. abrupt and complete withdrawal from the use of an addictive substance, as a narcotic drug, alcohol, or tobacco.
—Idiom
2. go cold turkey,
a. to stop using an addictive substance abruptly and completely.
b. to undergo sudden and complete withdrawal from a habitual activity or behavior pattern.
c. to begin or do something without planning, preparation, or practice.
Origin:
1915–20, Americanism; prob. from the phrase to talk cold turkey to speak bluntly about something unpleasant, var. of to talk turkey; see turkey
Cold Turkey DVD
(1971) DickVanDyke's Classic! Playable on WorldWide DVD
boxofficevideoelite.com

cold-tur⋅key

  [kohld-tur-kee] Slang.
–verb (used with object)
1. to withdraw from (an addictive substance or a habit) abruptly and completely.
–verb (used without object)
2. to withdraw from an addictive substance or a habit abruptly and completely.
–adjective
3. abrupt and complete: cold-turkey withdrawal from drugs.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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cold turkey  
n.   Slang

  1. Immediate, complete withdrawal from something on which one has become dependent, such as an addictive drug.

  2. Blunt language or procedural method.

  3. A cold fish.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Cultural Dictionary

cold turkey

To “go cold turkey” is to withdraw suddenly and completely from an addictive substance or some other form of dependency: “Many people who attempt to quit smoking do so by going cold turkey rather than by gradually cutting down.”

The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Slang Dictionary
cold turkey

  1. mod.
    [stopping something] suddenly, without tapering off. (Said especially of stopping an addictive drug intake. Originally drugs.) : Martha stopped cold turkey and survived.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Word Origin & History

cold turkey 
"without preparation," 1910; narrower sense of "withdrawal from an addictive substance" (originally heroin) first recorded 1921. Cold turkey is a food that requires little preparation, so "to quit like cold turkey" is to do so suddenly and without preparation.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: cold tur·key
Pronunciation: -'t&r-kE
Function: noun
: abrupt complete cessation of the use of an addictive drug; also : the symptoms experienced by one undergoing withdrawal from a drug —cold turkey adverb or transitive verb
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Idioms & Phrases

cold turkey

Immediate, complete withdrawal from something, especially an addictive substance; also, without planning or preparation. For example, My bad shoulder forced me to quit playing tennis cold turkey, or I'd never done any rock climbing, but decided to try it cold turkey. This term may have come from the earlier expression talk turkey (for blunt speaking). At first used strictly for abrupt withdrawal from drugs or alcohol, it soon was transferred to quitting any habit or activity. [Early 1900s]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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