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go cold turkey

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go cold turkey

Inf. to stop (doing something) without tapering off. (Originally drug slang. Now concerned with breaking any habit.) I had to stop smoking, so I went cold turkey. It's awful! When heroin addicts go cold turkey, they get terribly sick.

See also: cold, turkey

go cold turkey

to suddenly and completely stop doing something, esp. a bad habit Finally she went cold turkey on a 23-year smoking habit and hasn't smoked since.

Usage notes: also used in the form quit cold turkey with the same meaning: The big organizations suddenly quit cold turkey, leaving the work to volunteers.

See also: cold, turkey