chill

A moderate, but uncomfortable and penetrating coldness.

There was a chill in the air.

Energy has seldom been found where we need it when we want it. Ancient nomads, wishing to ward off the evening chill and enjoy a meal around a campfire, had to collect wood and then spend time and effort coaxing the heat of friction out from between sticks to kindle a flame. With more settled people, animals were harnessed to capstans or caged in treadmills to turn grist into meal.

A sudden penetrating sense of cold, especially one that causes a brief trembling nerve response through the body; the trembling response itself; often associated with illness: fevers and chills, or susceptibility to illness.

Close the window or you'll catch a chill.

I felt a chill when the wind picked up.

An uncomfortable and numbing sense of fear, dread, anxiety, or alarm, often one that is sudden and usually accompanied by a trembling nerve response resembling the body's response to biting cold.

Despite the heat, he felt a chill as he entered the crime scene.

The actor's eerie portrayal sent chills through the audience.

An iron mould or portion of a mould, serving to cool rapidly, and so to harden, the surface of molten iron brought in contact with it.

The hardened part of a casting, such as the tread of a carriage wheel.

Moderately cold or chilly.

A chill wind was blowing down the street.

Noisome winds, and blasting vapours chill.

Unwelcoming; not cordial.

Arriving late at the wedding, we were met with a chill reception.

Calm, relaxed, easygoing.

The teacher is really chill and doesn't care if you use your phone during class.

Paint-your-own ceramics studios are a chill way to express yourself while learning more about your date's right brain.

"Cool"; meeting a certain hip standard or garnering the approval of a certain peer group.

That new movie was chill, man.

Okay, not a problem.

Sorry about that. —It's chill.

To lower the temperature of something; to cool.

Chill before serving.

To become cold.

In the wind he chilled quickly.

To harden a metal surface by sudden cooling.

To become hard by rapid cooling.

To relax; to lie back; to take things easy.

Chill, man, we've got a whole week to do it; no sense in getting worked up.

The new gym teacher really has to chill or he's gonna blow a gasket.