Choose the correct meaning of idiom: Throw cold water on

Correct — B. To throw cold water on an idea, plan or hope is to belittle it or cast doubt on it, and so to dampen other people's enthusiasm for it: 'The finance team threw cold water on the expansion plan.'

The picture is a dousing. Cold water puts out a fire, and doubt puts out enthusiasm.

That is opposing or discouraging → option (b).

Why the others are wrong

• (a)
  To make something popular — To make something popular is the reverse of the idiom's effect. Throwing cold water on a plan dampens support for it rather than spreading it.
• (c)
  To wash away concerns — To wash away concerns reads the water literally, as something that cleans. The idiom raises doubts about an idea rather than removing worries.
• (d)
  To encourage enthusiastically — To encourage enthusiastically is the direct opposite. It catches a candidate who remembers that the idiom concerns enthusiasm but not which way it acts.

Many idioms work through a physical picture. Cold water thrown on a fire puts it out, so cold water thrown on a proposal kills the enthusiasm around it.

The meaning is negative: you throw cold water on something others are keen on, by doubting, belittling or dismissing it.

The variant pour cold water on means the same.

Key facts

• Throw cold water on something: to belittle, dismiss or cast doubt on it.
• Pour cold water on is a variant with the same meaning.
• The idiom is used of plans, ideas and hopes that someone else is keen on.

Common traps

• Reading cold water as soothing and choosing To wash away concerns
• Remembering that the idiom is about enthusiasm but reversing its direction

No directly related past PYQ was found.