pour cold water over
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
to discourage or express disapproval of an idea
Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt
làm mất tinh thần hoặc thể hiện sự không đồng ý
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Literally: to pour cold water over something
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
The manager poured cold water over the proposal, citing financial concerns.
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “pour cold water over” mean?
to discourage or express disapproval of an idea Literally: to pour cold water over something
Is “pour cold water over” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.