Definition

Adjective (Descriptive Phrase): - To feel a chill run through one's body / To feel one's blood run cold: This phrase describes a sudden, intense physical sensation of coldness caused by extreme fear, shock, horror, or dread. It is not about physical temperature but a visceral psychological reaction.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • Nghe tin đó, tôi lạnh người. (Hearing that news, I felt a chill run through my body.)
  • Câu chuyện ma khiến đứa trẻ lạnh người. (The ghost story made the child feel their blood run cold.)
  • Nhìn cảnh tượng ấy, ai cũng lạnh người. (Looking at that scene, everyone was chilled to the bone.)

Advanced Usage

• The phrase is often used to emphasize a reaction to something terrifying, unexpected, or morally shocking. It can function similarly to the English idioms "to be chilled to the bone" or "to make one's blood run cold."

Variants and Related Words

• Rùng mình (v): to shudder, to shiver (often from cold, fear, or disgust). This is a close synonym but focuses more on the physical shuddering motion.
  • Cô ấy rùng mình vì lạnh. (She shivered from the cold.)
• Sợ lạnh gáy / Sợ lạnh sống lưng: to be scared stiff (idioms with similar imagery of cold fear along the neck or spine).

Synonyms

• To be chilled to the bone: To feel very cold, often from fear.
• To feel one's blood freeze: To be terrified or horrified.
• To be horrified: To be filled with shock or dread.

Related Idioms

• Lạnh gáy: Literally "cold nape," meaning to feel a chill of fear on the back of one's neck.
  • Tiếng động lạ trong đêm khiến nó lạnh gáy. (The strange sound in the night sent a chill down his spine.)
• Máu đông thành băng: An exaggerated, literary way to say "blood turned to ice," expressing extreme terror.

1. to feel one's blood freeze