English · Slang Attested

cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey

In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.

Both English Tiếng Việt

Meaning · English

Extremely cold.

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

rất lạnh

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Where it’s used: Used American English

Examples

It was a bitterly cold, snowy and wind-blown evening in early January when I told my son that it was, "Cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey." Needless to say, he laughed and agreed with me.

Usage example from English Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30)

Sources & notes

Adapted from English Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30 via kaikki.org).

Topics: Monkeys

Common questions

What does “cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey” mean?

Extremely cold.

Is “cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey” formal or informal?

cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey is generally slang.

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