Chilling

How to spell chilling

8 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce chilling

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does chilling mean?

1. adjectiveSo frightening or sinister that it provokes a cold sense of dread.
2. verbThe act of making something cold, especially food or drink.

Chilling in a sentence

• adjective

  The witness gave a chilling account of the break-in.

• verb

  She is chilling the white wine before the guests arrive.

• adjective

  The documentary ended on a chilling note about the unsolved case.

• verb

  The recipe recommends chilling the dough for an hour.

Where does chilling come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This word grows from the verb 'chill', which traces back to the Old English noun 'ciele' or 'cele', meaning 'cold' or 'frost'. That noun belonged to a broad Germanic family of cold words, related to 'cool' and 'cold' themselves, all sharing an ancient root that meant simply 'to be cold'. The verb sense, 'to make or become cold', was well established by the late medieval period, and the present participle 'chilling' was used both literally for cooling food and drink and figuratively for anything that struck a person cold with fear. By the 1800s the figurative use had hardened into the adjective we know today, describing a story or threat so frightening it seems to lower the temperature of the blood. The doubled 'l' is the only mild trap: 'chill' keeps both consonants before the regular '-ing' is added.

How the word is built

• chill (Old English ciele: cold)
• -ing (present participle / adjective suffix)