cold case

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

cold case (plural cold cases)

1. (law enforcement, slang) A criminal investigation that has not been solved after a considerable time but remains “on the books” and may be reopened when new evidence appears.
   • 2015, Peter James, You Are Dead, New York, N.Y.: Minotaur Books, →ISBN:

     ‘I had my researchers check the files on all the mispers and cold cases five years either side of that date estimate, on females of that approximate age. This is what they found. Fill your boots.’ He took a large gulp of his drink. / ‘I’m impressed, you've been moving fast.’ / ‘On it like a car bonnet, mate.’

2. A refrigerated display case used for selling items that are kept cold.
   • 2015, Andie Mitchell, It Was Me All Along: A Memoir, →ISBN, page 61:

     We'd each grab a twenty-ounce Coke from the cold case, and at the end of the movie, Kate would still have a nearly full bottle.

• open problem