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cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
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cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
English
Etymology
Unknown. There is a discredited theory that it refers to a brass container for cannon balls on a British man-of-war, and a somewhat more plausible theory that "brass monkey" used to refer to a cannon on a man-of-war.
Pronunciation
Adjective
cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey (not comparable)
- (slang) Extremely cold.
2003, Douglas McLaughlin, The Back Porch Philosopher, →ISBN:It was a bitterly cold, snowy and wind-blown evening in early January when I told my son that it was, "Cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey." Needless to say, he laughed and agreed with me.
2008, Baka Imre, The Sound of Guns, →ISBN, page 44:There were a few kids there already, and had a fire going on shore, some were huddled around the fire. I couldn't bame them, it was cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey.
2012, Bud Crawford -, Down Home, →ISBN, page 46:I know this was during coon hunting season so it must have been sometime in December. It was cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey.
See also