phrasal verb/idiom · neutral
give someone the cold shoulder
UK/ɡɪv ˈsʌm.wʌn ðə kəʊld ˈʃəʊldə/US/ɡɪv ˈsʌm.wʌn ðə koʊld ˈʃoʊldər/give·some·one·the·COLD·SHOUL·der
to deliberately ignore someone or treat someone in an unfriendly way
Examples
“After their argument, she gave him the cold shoulder for days.”
“He felt upset because his colleagues gave him the cold shoulder.”
“Don't give her the cold shoulder if you want to patch things up.”
Band 8 sentence
“After the disagreement at the meeting, several team members gave him the cold shoulder for a while.”
Collocations
- give someone the cold shoulder after an argument
- receive the cold shoulder
Word family
Common mistakes
She gave him cold shoulder.→She gave him the cold shoulder.
She gave him the cold shoulders.→She gave him the cold shoulder.
Say it for a higher band
5ignore someone→6snub someone→7+give someone the cold shoulder
Synonyms
ignore
snub
Easily confused
ignore
“He chose to ignore the comments.”
snub
“She felt snubbed when nobody greeted her.”
Related words
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