cold-water flat

[ kohld-waw-ter, -wot-er ]

noun

, Chiefly Northeastern U.S.

1. (formerly) an apartment provided with only cold running water, often in a building with no central heating.

Word History and Origins

Origin of cold-water flat¹

First recorded in 1940–45

Example Sentences

Without hesitation, she abandons her family to live in Nicky’s London cold-water flat atop a dilapidated building of bohemians and immigrants.

From Los Angeles Times

Previously, the family had lived in a cold-water flat in Brooklyn on the border between Williamsburg and Bedford-Stuyvesant at a time when the area still had many factories.

From New York Times

The family of seven lived in a cold-water flat with no heat.

From New York Times

He grew up in a cold-water flat in a poor, primarily industrial section of the city, where his father was a factory worker and a long-haul truck driver, and his mother worked as a domestic.

From Los Angeles Times

Ms. Abbott achieved early renown as a model, appearing on the cover of Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar, but spurned her glamorous upbringing to move into a cold-water flat in the East Village in 1946.

From Washington Post

Related Words

• co-op
• condo
• condominium
• cooperative
• flat
• suite