Emily Dickinson Lexicon

COLD, n. [Sax. cele, cyl, cyle; D. koelte, koude; G. kälte. See Cool.]

1. The sensation produced in animal bodies by the escape of heat, and the consequent contraction of the fine vessels. Also, the cause of that sensation. Heat expands the vessels, and cold contracts them; and the transition from an expanded to a contracted state is accompanied with a sensation to which, as well as to the cause of it, we give the denomination of cold. Hence cold is a privation of heat, or the cause of it. – Encyc. Bacon.
2. A shivering; the effect of the contraction of the fine vessels of the body; chilliness, or chillness. – Dryden.
3. A disease; indisposition occasioned by cold; catarrh.