as in clam
a cold aloof person
my new boss is a cold turkey and definitely not one for chitchat
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of cold turkey
Hetman testified in direct examination Monday that her son had a Percocet addiction in 2013 and had quit cold turkey.
—
Sam Blum, New York Times, 19 Nov. 2025
If going off Wi-Fi cold turkey seems too extreme, Aguiar suggested giving kids a bit of time on devices as needed before taking them to do something else.
—Nathan Diller, USA Today, 16 Oct. 2025
But unlike nicotine or narcotics, food is something that all people need to survive, so quitting cold turkey isn’t an option.
—Claire Wilcox, The Conversation, 10 Oct. 2025
Don’t quit everything you are involved with cold turkey.
—Phil Blair, San Diego Union-Tribune, 7 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for cold turkey
Sam Blum, New York Times, 19 Nov. 2025
If going off Wi-Fi cold turkey seems too extreme, Aguiar suggested giving kids a bit of time on devices as needed before taking them to do something else.
—Nathan Diller, USA Today, 16 Oct. 2025
But unlike nicotine or narcotics, food is something that all people need to survive, so quitting cold turkey isn’t an option.
—Claire Wilcox, The Conversation, 10 Oct. 2025
Don’t quit everything you are involved with cold turkey.
—Phil Blair, San Diego Union-Tribune, 7 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for cold turkey
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cold turkey
Noun
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Some of her favorite dishes to prepare include the fish and shrimp combo, lobster tail and clam strips.—
Sean Krofssik,
Hartford Courant,
13 Feb. 2026
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Creamy clam chowder with celery is a light, brothy version of the New England classic, using potatoes to thicken the broth a bit.—
Holly Riordan,
Better Homes & Gardens,
9 Feb. 2026
Noun
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That impulse extends to dealing with occasional rude customers at her day gig, where the coworkers are nice but the boss, family-business heir Maxwell Sterling (Peter Serafinowicz), is one nasty cold fish.—
Dennis Harvey,
Variety,
27 Nov. 2025
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Lancelot, still the Round Table’s greatest hero, is a bit of a cold fish with an unexpected role to play as the saga winds to its close.—
Elizabeth Hand,
Washington Post,
16 July 2024
Noun
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As Fiala started to size up Husso, Sennecke lifted Fiala’s stick and, in one motion, stole the puck and sent a backhand pass to Mikael Granlund.—
Eric Stephens,
New York Times,
4 Feb. 2026
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Authorities have identified the man who was shot and severely wounded after allegedly charging a police officer outside an Escondido halfway house last week while armed with a knife and a 2-foot-long stick.—
City News Service,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
4 Feb. 2026
Noun
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But that was just the tip of the nostalgic iceberg as the commercial revealed actors from the beloved era of TV comedies.—
Nick Romano,
Entertainment Weekly,
9 Feb. 2026
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An Icebreaker makes the path for a cargo ship with an iceberg in the background near a port on the Alexandra Land island near Nagurskoye, Russia, in May 2021.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
9 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Cold turkey.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cold%20turkey. Accessed 15 Feb. 2026.
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