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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

come in from the cold en · VERB

Pronunciation

  • /ˈkʌm ˌɪn fɹəm ðə ˈkoʊ̯ld/ (Canada, General-American)
  • /ˈkʌm ˌɪn fɹəm ðə ˈkəʊ̯ld/ (Received-Pronunciation)
  • /ˈkəm ˌɪn fɾom d̪e ˈkoːlɖ/ (India)
  • /ˈkɐm ˌɪn fɹəm ðə ˈkəʉ̯ld/ (Australia)
  • kŭm′ ĭn′ frəm thə kōld′
  • /ˈkɐm ˌən fɹəm ðə ˈkɐʉ̯ld/ (New-Zealand)
  • (Australia) audio
  • /ˈkʌm ˌɪn fɹəm ðə ˈkold/ (Scotland)

Etymology

Literally, the term refers to someone who is outdoors when the weather is cold coming indoors to a warm place. The idiomatic senses were popularized by the title of the novel The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1963) by the British author John le Carré (1931–2020); “the Cold” is a pun on the Cold War, during which the novel is set.

Meanings

  1. (idiomatic, intransitive) Of a spy: to return home after having gone undercover in enemy territory.
    • I mean … one can't be out in the cold all the time; one has to come in from the cold … do you see what I mean? 1963 September, John le Carré [pseudonym; David John Moore Cornwell], “The Circus”, in The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Coward-McCann, published 1964, →OCLC, page 23:
  2. (figuratively, idiomatic, intransitive) To gain widespread acceptance in a group or society, especially where there was not any before.
    • Long an outsider in Western politics, Portugal came in from the cold after the 1974 Carnation Revolution.

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
comes in from the cold Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres lexicographic
come in from the cold Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
came in from the cold Tense=Past lexicographic
come in out of the cold alternative lexicographic
coming in from the cold Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part lexicographic

Relateds

leave someone out in the cold · brought in from the cold

Translations (4)

fi palata kotiin (of a spy: to return home after having gone undercover in enemy territory) · fr venir du froid (to gain widespread acceptance in a group or society, especially where there was not any before) · fi tulla esiin pimennosta (to gain widespread acceptance in a group or society, especially where there was not any before) · he חָזַר מִן הַכְּפוֹר (of a spy: to return home after having gone undercover in enemy territory)

wikipedia: The Spy Who Came in from the Cold · wikipedia: John le Carré