made someone's blood run cold
Caused primal fear
To make someone's blood run cold is to terrify or horrify them, evoking a visceral chill of fear: The sound of footsteps behind her made her blood run cold.
The phrase draws on the physical sensation of blood seeming to freeze in moments of dread.
Also appears as blood ran cold: His blood ran cold when he saw the empty crib.
- ghost storiesTales of the supernatural
- shiverInvoluntary trembling sensation
- chillingCausing fear or cold
- fearEmotional response to threat
- fight or flightThreat-triggered physiological state
goosebumps · hair-raising · froze · scared stiff · terror · heart-stopping · dread · trembling · spine-tingling · petrifying · horror · jump scare · supernatural events · nerve-wracking · foreboding · sweating · dry mouth · paralysis
made someone's blood run coldwarmed someone's heart
Stirred affection within
warmed the cockles of someone's heart · made someone's blood boil
make, made, makes, making, maker, makers, someone, some, one