chill, n. — Green’s Dictionary of Slang

chill n.

1. (US) rejection, ‘the cold shoulder’.

1908		in New Broadway Mag. July 80: I knew it was no use trying to save him a chill [HDAS].
1929		W. Winchell On Broadway 30 July [synd. col.] Edith Day got the chill from the British.
1953		L. Durst Jives of Dr. Hepcat (1989) 2: For you and me the chill is strictly on.
1995		J. Cameron Vinnie Got Blown Away 150: Gave me the hard stare, looked at first like another three days of the big chill. Then he went ‘Africa they speak French.’.
2000		C. Cook Robbers (2001) 165: She’d hardly spoken to him since, giving him the silent chill.

2. murder, death, assassination; also attrib.

1950		Goldin et al. DAUL 43/1: Chill, n. [...] 2. The act of knocking unconscious or killing.
1958		H. Ellison Web of the City (1983) 135: My sister’s downtown in the chill house [i.e. morgue].
1990		(con. early 1950s) J. Ellroy L.A. Confidential 325: Kill the chills: he’s on the reopening.

3. (US Und.) a situation where a potential victim of a con trick loses interest in the hoax.

1940

D. Maurer Big Con 102: After one of these ‘chills’ the mark comes back into the deal with greater confidence.

4. (US campus) beer.

1976		Eble Campus Sl. Nov. 1: chill – a can of beer.
1996		Eble Sl. and Sociability 63: A ‘beer’ is called [...] a chill or a cold one because of its serving temperature.

5. (US) a pose of indifference, of coolness.

1989		(con. 1982–6) T. Williams Cocaine Kids (1990) 101: Regulars at the club work hard to maintain their dignity and enhance their status. A key element in this effort is the attempt to exude chill or cool – poise under pressure.
1997		Simon & Burns Corner (1998) 274: Suddenly his head comes up in a broad smile. He loses all of his street corner chill and actually struts through the front hall.

6. see chill (pill) under chill adj.

In phrases

no chill (n.) (also zero chill)

(US campus) a lack of emotional stability or sophistication.

2016

C. Eble (ed.) UNC-CH Campus Sl. Spring 2016 7: NO CHILL — emotional or inept handling of a difficult or awkward situation: ‘He told me his whole life story at the party last night—he has no chill’ Also ZERO CHILL.

play the chill (for) (v.) (also give the chill)

to ignore, to avoid, to act coldly towards.

1923		T.A. Dorgan in Zwilling TAD Lex. (1993) 64: They’re trying to shake that cheap stiff. Playin’ the chill for him, eh?
1928		T.A. Dorgan in Zwilling TAD Lex. (1993) 98: I got a steer on Mill Valley in the foist but give it the chill — it cops [i.e. loses].
1931		D. Runyon ‘Romance in the Roaring Forties’ in Runyon on Broadway (1954) 34: Dave the Dude plays the chill for the Sixteen Hundred Club.
1940		D. Maurer Big Con 181: When you are chick, boy, they give you the chill. [Ibid.] 303: To play the chill. To ignore someone.
1944		D. Runyon Runyon à la Carte 100: All of a sudden Miss Sarah Brown plays plenty of chill for The Sky.

put the chill on (v.)

1. (US) to snub, to ignore.

1928		J. O’Connor Broadway Racketeers 250: Chill—Contempt; ‘Putting on the chill’—viewing with a scornful eye.
1938		D. Runyon ‘Baseball Hattie’ in Runyon on Broadway (1954) 650: They put on a large chill for her.
1950		Goldin et al. DAUL 169/2: Put the chill on. 1. To snub; to get rid of; to avoid.
1960, 1975		Wentworth & Flexner DAS.

2. to murder, to kill, to assassinate.

1932		‘Paul Cain’ ‘Black’ in Omnibus (2006) 219: I’ll put the chill on both of you - and everybody’ll be happy: .
1944		R.L. Bellem ‘Murder’s Mouthpiece’ Hollywood Detective Aug. 🌐 You think somebody from the old outfit might put the chill on him for revenge, hunh?
1945		R.L. Bellem ‘Coffin for a Coward’ in Hollywood Detective Dec. 🌐 According to that, somebody else must have sneaked in and put the chill on him ahead of you.
1959		W. Brown Teen-Age Mafia 130: They wouldn’t think twice before putting the chill on him.
1986		L. Heinemann Paco’s Story (1987) 176: Grumbling through his teeth about the one and only way to put the chill on gooks.

3. (US prison) to intimidate, to discourage, to make one uncomfortable.

1943		W.R. Burnett Nobody Lives for Ever 21: His blue eyes seemed cold and aloof behind the thick lenses of his glasses. He was a great guy for putting the chill on some bumptious sucker.
1950		Goldin et al. DAUL 169/2: Put the chill on. [...] 2. To discourage, intimidate, or otherwise influence one to desist from the execution of an act.
1951		R. Starnes Grant’s Tomb 11: ‘What chiefly put the chill on the jury was that an important witness vanished’.
1992		Bentley & Corbett Prison Sl. 92: Doggin’ Constantly verbally harassing someone […] (Archaic: put the chill on, put the shake on).
1993		T. Jones Pugilist at Rest 228: It will put the chill on him before he ever climbs into the ring.