cold shoulder

Definition of cold shoulder

: intentionally cold or unsympathetic treatment got the cold shoulder from an old friend

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Examples of cold shoulder in a Sentence

at the party the two former friends consciously gave each other the cold shoulder

Recent Examples on the Web So will the 62nd annual Grammy Awards turn a big ol' cold shoulder towards their once-beloved guitar music? — Chris Payne, Billboard, "Grammy Nominations 2020: 5 Big Takeaways From the Rock Categories," 20 Nov. 2019 Chinese businesses pulled lucrative NBA sponsorships, stopped televising NBA preseason games, and basically turned a cold shoulder to last week’s visiting Lakers and Brooklyn Nets. — Bill Plaschke, Los Angeles Times, "Column: For LeBron James, injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere … except in China," 15 Oct. 2019 There have been some exceptions to the American cold shoulder. — Jon Lee Anderson, The New Yorker, "As Protests Again Sweep Haiti, How Can the Nation Move Forward?," 24 Oct. 2019 Now there is no response (cold shoulder is used to control situations on this side of my family). — Amy Dickinson, Anchorage Daily News, "Ask Amy: Snubbed child gets burned as an adult," 3 Sep. 2019 Despite Cannes' continued cold shoulder to Netflix and other digital platforms, Moretti spoke from the perspective of being a French theater operator and programming one of global cinema's most prestigious film competitions. — Christos Tsirbas, The Hollywood Reporter, "Cannes Programmer Urges French Exhibitors to Talk to Netflix," 6 Sep. 2019 Since the breakdown of the Hanoi summit between Trump and Kim in February, however, North Korea has largely turned a cold shoulder to the South’s entreaties. — Victoria Kim, latimes.com, "Trump to arrive in Seoul as South Korea finds itself in a tough spot with North Korea," 28 June 2019 Blue and White, anxious not to anger its Jewish voters, gave Mr Odeh the cold shoulder. — The Economist, "Israel’s Arab citizens could hold the key to political change," 5 Sep. 2019 Now there is no response (cold shoulder is used to control situations on this side of my family). — Amy Dickinson, Anchorage Daily News, "Ask Amy: Snubbed child gets burned as an adult," 3 Sep. 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'cold shoulder.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Last Updated

8 Dec 2019

Cite this Entry

“Cold shoulder.” The Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster Inc., https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cold%20shoulder. Accessed 13 December 2019.

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