Meanings
- colloquialuncountableBrandy with cold water and no sugar.
If A. E. B. should assert that a glass of “cold without,” because, by those accustomed to indulge in such potations, it was understood to mean “brandy and cold water, without sugar,” was really a draught from some “well of purest English undefil’d,” the confusion of ideas could not be more complete.
1850 June 15, Samuel Hickson, “[Notes.] Further Notes on Derivation of the Word ‘News.’”, in Notes and Queries: A Medium of Inter-Communication for Literary Men, Artists, Antiquaries, Genealogists, Etc., volume II, number 36 (6 July 1850), London: George Bell, […], published 1851, page 82, column 1
Origin
Ellipsis of cold water, without sugar.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
cold without. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cold%20without
“cold without.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cold%20without. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “cold without,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cold%20without.
Source: cold without on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.