Chilling

//ˈt͡ʃɪlɪŋ// adj, noun, verb

adj, noun, verb ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The act by which something is chilled.

    "To such perceivings we give names like these: seeings, hearings, smellings, chillings and burnings, pleasures and pains, desires […]"

  2. 2
    the process of becoming cooler; a falling temperature wordnet
Verb
  1. 1
    present participle and gerund of chill form-of, gerund, participle, present
Adjective
  1. 1
    Becoming cold.

    "As they reached the street the ‘Duchess’ caught a swirling hem of lace about her chilling ankles."

  2. 2
    Causing cold.
  3. 3
    Causing mild fear.

    "It was a chilling story, but the children enjoyed it."

Adjective
  1. 1
    provoking fear or terror wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
alarmingcoolingacheachingadiabatic absorptionadiabatic demagnetization

Example

More examples

"Sami recounted the details of his crimes with a chilling lack of emotion."

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Middle English chilling, chelling, chyllinge, chillynge, chillande, equivalent to chill + -ing.

Etymology 2

From Middle English chilling, chillyng, chyllynge, equivalent to chill + -ing.

Related phrases

blast chillingbone-chillingchilling effect

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.