cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey
In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.
Meaning · English
Extremely cold.
Register: slang
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).
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.