chill

1 of 3

noun

ˈchil 

1

a

: a sensation of cold accompanied by shivering (as due to illness)

He had caught a chill that night, and was now down with a fever.

—Wilkie Collins

—usually plural

If you have a cough, fever and chills and are not breathing as easily as usual, you might have a cold or the flu.

—Linda Searing

Over the next few days, my body followed up with a series of messages: you have a sore throat; you have a fever; you have the chills.

—John Herrman

b

: an intense shivery sensation : shiver, shudder

especially : one caused by a strong emotion (such as fear)

Do you like a good scare? The sort of story, or moment, that sends a chill down your spine and makes the hair on your arms stand up like porcupine quills?

—Katherine Scott Crawford

—often plural

a song so beautiful it gives me chills

… this is where [Stephen] King shines, creating those aforementioned creepy scenes that gave me the chills.

—Katherine Whitt

c

: a disagreeable sensation of coldness

When you venture outside on a cold day, chances are you feel the biggest chill in your fingers.

—Tamekia Reece

2

: a moderate but disagreeable degree of cold

a chill in the air

3

: a check to enthusiasm or warmth of feeling

And a chill fell over the service as mourners … carried a casket draped in white to the altar.

—Katherine Creag and Jennifer Millman

chill

2 of 3

adjective

sometimes chiller; sometimes chillest

1

a

: moderately cold

b

: cold, raw

2

: affected by cold

chill travelers

3

: distant, formal

a chill reception

4

: depressing, dispiriting

chill penury

—Thomas Gray

5

informal : having a laid-back style or easy demeanor

She looked just like Joey Potter … Really young and super chill. No one was paying any attention. It was a laid-back situation.

—Emma Pearse

We're very casual. I love how at City Hall people come in everything from wedding gowns to jeans. It's so mellow and chill, just how we like it.

—Erin Burnett

chillness noun

chill

3 of 3

verb

chilled; chilling; chills

intransitive verb

1

a

: to become cold

b

: to shiver or quake with or as if with cold

2

: to become taken with a chill

3

a

: chill out

b

: hang sense 12

transitive verb

1

a

: to make cold or chilly

chilled by a cold wind

b

: to make cool especially without freezing

chill the wine

2

: to affect as if with cold : dispirit

Synonyms

Noun

• bite
• bitterness
• bleakness
• chilliness
• nip
• nippiness
• rawness
• sharpness

Adjective

• antiseptic
• arctic
• brittle
• chilly
• clammy
• cold
• cold-blooded
• cold-eyed
• coldish
• cool
• frigid
• frosty
• frozen
• gelid
• glacial
• hard-eyed
• icy
• uncordial
• unfriendly
• unsympathetic
• wintry
• wintery

Verb

• cool
• refrigerate

Examples of chill in a Sentence

Noun

There was a chill in the autumn air.

He closed the windows to keep out the chill.

Her symptoms include chills and a fever.

He caught a chill that turned into a bad cold.

The novel's final scene gave him the chills.

Her words sent chills down my spine.

Adjective

The chill weather kept us indoors.

were met with a chill gaze when they arrived home late from the party

Verb

Chill the dessert for one hour before serving it.

Let the dessert chill for one hour before serving it.

Here's a ghost story that will chill you.

Her screams chilled me to the bone.

a horrible sight that chilled my bones

He thinks his parents are way too uptight and says they should just chill.

I decided to stay home and chill.

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Here, homeowners can whip up cocktails to serve guests from the indoor bar tucked into the bulkhead, exercise their green thumbs tending to the mature plantings, or just chill under the vine-laced pergola. —Demetrius Simms, Robb Report, 23 May 2025

Once doctors reviewed the family’s travel history, treatment was quickly shifted to address concerns of histoplasmosis, which the CDC explains can cause cause flu-like symptoms including fever and chills, malaise, cough, headache, chest pain and body aches. —Cara Lynn Shultz, People.com, 23 May 2025

Adjective

Though their everyday hangouts are chill, Beckham loves to roll out the red carpet for Milo on special occasions. —Michelle Lee, People.com, 13 May 2025

And then obviously in between that, either dropping my kid off at school or picking my kid up or hanging out, going to the park or something like that in some of those gaps, but that’s a very happy day, very chill, humbling day (Laughs). —Carly Thomas, HollywoodReporter, 4 Apr. 2025

Verb

Those beans are soaked overnight before being cooked and blended, placed on trays to chill for another 24 hours or so before other ingredients are added. —Andrew Watman, Forbes.com, 12 May 2025

Churn the Ice Cream: Once chilled, pour the mixture into your ice cream maker and churn according to the manufacturer’s instructions (typically 20-25 minutes). —Matt Rozo, Mercury News, 12 May 2025

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English chile chill, frost, from Old English ciele; akin to Old English ceald cold

First Known Use

Noun

1601, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Adjective

circa 1540, in the meaning defined at sense 1b

Verb

14th century, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1a

Phrases Containing chill

• a chill down your spine
• a chill/shiver runs up/down someone's spine
• caught a chill
• chill factor
• chill out
• make a chill/shiver run up/down someone's spine
• pre-chill
• send a chill/shiver up/down someone's spine
• take the chill off

Rhymes for chill

• bill
• brill
• drill
• fil
• fill
• frill
• gill
• grill
• grille
• jill
• kill
• krill

Kids Definition

chill

1 of 3 noun

ˈchil 

1

: a feeling of cold accompanied by shivering

chills and fever

2

: a strong sensation of shivering especially from an emotion (as fear)

—often used in plural

gave me chills

3

: a moderate but unpleasant amount of cold

there was a chill in the air

chill

2 of 3 adjective

1

: unpleasantly cold : raw

nights grew chill

2

: not friendly

a chill greeting

3

informal : having a relaxed style or manner : laid-back

chillness noun

chill

3 of 3 verb

1

: to make or become cold or chilly

2

: to cool without freezing

chill the pudding for dessert

3

: to affect as if with cold

we were chilled by the ghost story

4

: chill out

5

: to spend time relaxing or socializing

chiller noun

Medical Definition

chill

1 of 2 noun

ˈchil 

1

: a sensation of cold accompanied by shivering

2

: a disagreeable sensation of coldness

chill

2 of 2 intransitive verb

1

a

: to become cold

b

: to shiver or quake with or as if with cold

2

: to become affected with a chill

transitive verb

: to make cold or chilly

Legal Definition

chill

transitive verb

: to discourage especially through fear of penalty : have a chilling effect on

statutes which may chill the exercise of…free expression

—M. H. Redish