in cold blood
"in-cold-blood" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“in cold blood” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a prep_phrase. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 13
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - In a ruthless and unfeeling manner, particularly as applied to first-degree murder committed without provocation and with malice aforethought.
Corpus desk
Index EN-in-cold-blood · in cold blood · English
in cold blood · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 13 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "I" 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 | in cold blood |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Prep_phrase |
| Letters | 13 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “in cold blood” in English
Rare enough to double-check
in cold blood is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as aprep_phrase. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "In a ruthless and unfeeling manner, particularly as applied to first-degree murder committed without provocation and with malice aforethought.".
The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for in cold blood, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
Etymologically, the entry records: From a specialized meaning of cold, referring to lack of empathy. The correct English form is in cold blood, spelled I-N- -C-O-L-D- -B-L-O-O-D.
Definition
- 1In a ruthless and unfeeling manner, particularly as applied to first-degree murder committed without provocation and with malice aforethought.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how in cold blood appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
It was not a suicide! He was murdered in cold blood.
Police have arrested a suspect in the murder-robbery of a gold shop in Lop Buri two weeks ago, in which a young child and two adults were killed in cold blood.
Etymology
From a specialized meaning of cold, referring to lack of empathy.
This word in other languages
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.