cold-blooded
designating or pertaining to animals, as fishes and reptiles, whose blood temperature ranges from the freezing point upward, in accordance with the temperature of the surrounding medium; poikilothermic.
without emotion or feeling; dispassionate; cruel: a cold-blooded murder.
sensitive to cold.
Origin of cold-blooded
1Other words from cold-blooded
- cold-blood·ed·ly, adverb
- cold-blood·ed·ness, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
British Dictionary definitions for cold-blooded
having or showing a lack of feeling or pity: a cold-blooded killing
informal particularly sensitive to cold
(of all animals except birds and mammals) having a body temperature that varies with that of the surroundings: Technical term: poikilothermic
Derived forms of cold-blooded
- cold-bloodedly, adverb
- cold-bloodedness, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Scientific definitions for cold-blooded
[ kōld′blŭd′ĭd ]
Having a body temperature that changes according to the temperature of the surroundings. Fish, amphibians, and reptiles are cold-blooded.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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