Meanings
verbcatch a cold (third-person singular simple present catches a cold, present participle catching a cold, simple past and past participle caught a cold)
present singular third person catches a cold · participle present catching a cold · participle past caught a cold · past caught a cold · alternative catch cold
- idiomaticTo encounter difficulties.
Don't catch a cold because of the state pension freeze.
2014 March 22, Rupert Jones, “Retiring abroad? Don't catch a cold because of the state pension freeze”, in The Guardian1 more example
If the U.S. goes into recession in 2021, the rest of the world is expected to catch a cold.
2018 February 14, Gary Howes, “British Pound to Languish Below 1.10 vs. Euro as Recession Beckons in 2021 say Scandinavian Economists”, in Pound Sterling
Translations
Arabic أُصِيبَ بِبَرْدٍ
- أُصِيبَ بِبَرْدٍ (ʔuṣība bibardin)contract a cold
Bulgarian простудя́вам се, простудя́ се
- простудя́вам се (prostudjávam se)contract a cold
- простудя́ се (prostudjá se)contract a cold
Catalan refredar-se
- refredar-secontract a cold
Chinese Cantonese 感冒
- 感冒 (gam² mou⁶)contract a cold
Chinese Mandarin 感冒, 受涼 /受凉
- 感冒 (gǎnmào)contract a cold
- 受涼 /受凉 (shòuliáng)contract a cold
- 傷風 /伤风 (shāngfēng)contract a cold
Czech nachladit se, nastydnout
- nachladit secontract a cold
- nastydnoutcontract a cold
Danish blive forkølet
- blive forkøletcontract a cold
Dutch kouvatten, verkouden worden
- kouvattencontract a cold
- verkouden wordencontract a cold
Esperanto malvarmumi
- malvarmumicontract a cold
Estonian külmetuma
- külmetumacontract a cold
Finnish vilustua
- vilustuacontract a cold
French prendre froid, attraper un rhume
- prendre froidcontract a cold
- attraper un rhumecontract a cold
- attraper la mortcontract a cold
- attraper froidcontract a cold
German sich erkälten, sich verkühlen
- sich erkältencontract a cold
- sich verkühlencontract a cold
- sich eine Erkältung einziehencontract a cold
Hebrew הִצְטַנֵּן, הִתְקָרֵר
- הִצְטַנֵּן (hitstanén)contract a cold
- הִתְקָרֵר (hitkarér)contract a cold
Hungarian megfázik
- megfázikcontract a cold
Italian raffreddarsi
- raffreddarsicontract a cold
Japanese 風邪を引く, 風邪を召す
- 風邪を引く (kaze o hiku)contract a cold
- 風邪を召す (kaze o mesu)contract a cold
Korean 감기에 걸리다
- 감기에 걸리다 (gamgi-e geollida)contract a cold
Latvian saaukstēties
- saaukstētiescontract a cold
Lithuanian péršalti
- péršalticontract a cold
Norwegian Bokmål bli forkjølet
- bli forkjøletcontract a cold
Persian سرما خوردن, چاییدن
- سرما خوردن (sarmâ xordan)contract a cold
- چاییدن (čāyidan)contract a cold
Polish przeziębiać się, przeziębić się
- przeziębiać sięcontract a cold
- przeziębić sięcontract a cold
Portuguese resfriar-se, pegar um resfriado
- resfriar-secontract a cold
- pegar um resfriadocontract a cold
- griparcontract a cold
Romanian răci
- răcicontract a cold
Russian простужа́ться, простуди́ться
- простужа́ться (prostužátʹsja)contract a cold
- простуди́ться (prostudítʹsja)contract a cold
- простыва́ть (prostyvátʹ)contract a cold
- просты́ть (prostýtʹ)contract a cold
Slovak nachladnúť, prechladnúť
- nachladnúťcontract a cold
- prechladnúťcontract a cold
Spanish resfriarse, acatarrarse
- resfriarsecontract a cold
- acatarrarsecontract a cold
Swedish bli förkyld
- bli förkyldcontract a cold
Thai จับหวัด, เป็นหวัด
- จับหวัด (jàp-wàt)contract a cold
- เป็นหวัด (bpen-wàt)contract a cold
Turkish üşütmek
- üşütmekcontract a cold
Ukrainian засту́джуватися, застуди́тися
- засту́джуватися (zastúdžuvatysja)contract a cold
- застуди́тися (zastudýtysja)contract a cold
Vietnamese bị cảm lạnh
- bị cảm lạnhcontract a cold
Welsh cael annwyd, dala annwyd
- cael annwydcontract a cold
- dala annwydcontract a cold
Yiddish פֿאַרקילן זיך
- פֿאַרקילן זיך (farkiln zikh)contract a cold
Cite this entry
APA
catch a cold. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/catch%20a%20cold
MLA
“catch a cold.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/catch%20a%20cold. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “catch a cold,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/catch%20a%20cold.
Source: catch a cold on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.