cold spell
"cold-spell" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“cold spell” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 10
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A short period during which temperatures are much lower than usual.
Corpus desk
Index EN-cold-spell · cold spell · English
cold spell · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 10 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "C" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | cold spell |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| Letters | 10 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “cold spell” in English
Rare enough to double-check
cold spell is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
cold spell doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
Etymologically, the entry records: From cold + spell (“period of time”). The correct English form is cold spell, spelled C-O-L-D- -S-P-E-L-L.
Definition
- 1A short period during which temperatures are much lower than usual.
- 2A period of poor performance.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how cold spell appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
The only factors in the first four weeks of this year which, apart from greater commercial effort, might have been expected to influence B.R. receipts were the cold spell and the Post Office "go slow".
The Rizing Zephyr took a 71-70 lead on a Shota Tsuyama free throw (he missed the first attempt) with 1:42 to play, which was followed by a cold spell by both offenses before Coleby got in position to put his stamp on the final outcome.
Etymology
From cold + spell (“period of time”).
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.