1.
cold water
Water that is cold or unheated. A somewhat formal or written-style word; in everyday speech, the phrase つめたいみず is more common.
冷水で顔を洗う。
To wash one's face with cold water.
運動の後に冷水を飲んだ。
I drank cold water after exercising.
冷水を浴びせるような発言で場が凍りついた。
The atmosphere froze with a remark that was like a splash of cold water.
The standard word for cold water in somewhat formal or written contexts. In everyday speech, 冷たい水 is more common. The reading 冷水 is standard; the reading ひやみず also exists but is less common.
COMMON COLLOCATIONS:
- 冷水を浴びせる: to throw cold water on (figuratively: to dampen enthusiasm)
- 冷水シャワー: cold water shower
- 冷水で冷やす: to cool with cold water
RELATED EXPRESSIONS:
- 冷水を浴びせる is a common figurative expression meaning to throw cold water on someone's plans or enthusiasm, similar to the English idiom.
SIMILAR WORDS:
- 冷たい水: cold water — the everyday, spoken equivalent
- 温水: warm water — the opposite term, also used in formal/written contexts