catch cold

Idioms  

1. Also, catch one's death (of cold). Become infected with a cold virus, contract a bad cold, as in Jane manages to catch cold on every important business trip, or Put on your hat or you'll catch your death. The first term originally (16th century) meant becoming chilled by exposure to cold and took on its present meaning in the late 1600s. The hyperbolic variant, often shortened, is somewhat newer.

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Example Sentences

Under Guardiola, City has been caught cold by a youthful and unheralded Monaco, and then blown apart by a surging and hungry Liverpool.

From New York Times

“Everywhere I go, I just see people who were completely failed,” Titus said, adding to widespread criticism of Texas elected officials caught cold by the storm.

From The Guardian

Raya was caught cold by Bryan’s craft, fooled from more than 35 yards, with Bryan raising his right hand as if to indicate to his swarm of teammates to attack the 18-yard box.

From The Guardian

British drugmaker AstraZeneca had spent years preparing for a pandemic, but when the moment finally came it was caught cold on a crucial front: stressed parents working from home struggled to focus.

From Reuters

Other teams were caught cold by the innovation, with Red Bull claiming in its protest that the DAS is both an aerodynamic and a suspension device.

From The Guardian