cold open
noun
variants
or less commonly cold opening
plural cold opens also cold openings
: a scene of a film or television episode that precedes the title sequence or opening credits and that typically takes place in medias res
Cold opens are a bold move in any medium. When a movie or TV show drops the audience into its world without so much as a "here's the title," it speaks to a confidence that whatever's about to happen on screen is sufficient enough to immerse, intrigue, and otherwise hook them.—
Alexis Nedd
Alexis NeddFor fans of NBC's "The Office," the cold open from season five's "Casual Friday"—where Kevin spills his famous chili—is one of the show's most beloved scenes.—Addy Bink
Addy BinkThe film lost me right from the overacted cold opening …—Alexa Chipman
Alexa ChipmanExamples of cold open in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The new crime drama's cold open finds fixer Harry Da Souza (Tom Hardy) trying to broker peace between two rival gangs.
—Matt Cabral, EW.com, 30 Mar. 2025
The week’s cold open featured a furiously texting Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth (Andrew Dismukes) unknowingly engaging with a group of high school girls in a group chat, a reference to the Signal chat scandal.
—Omar L. Gallaga, Los Angeles Times, 30 Mar. 2025
Tossing the one-liners around, some directly from the real Trump, Musk and Rubio, the best part of tonight’s Oval Office cold open was all Myers — just like last week.
—Dominic Patten, Deadline, 8 Mar. 2025
The show’s cold open began with Trump (James Austin Johnson) and Vance (Bowen Yang) berating Zelensky (Mikey Day) for not being sufficiently thankful for aid against Russian aggression.
—William Vaillancourt, Rolling Stone, 2 Mar. 2025
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Matt Cabral, EW.com, 30 Mar. 2025
The week’s cold open featured a furiously texting Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth (Andrew Dismukes) unknowingly engaging with a group of high school girls in a group chat, a reference to the Signal chat scandal.
—Omar L. Gallaga, Los Angeles Times, 30 Mar. 2025
Tossing the one-liners around, some directly from the real Trump, Musk and Rubio, the best part of tonight’s Oval Office cold open was all Myers — just like last week.
—Dominic Patten, Deadline, 8 Mar. 2025
The show’s cold open began with Trump (James Austin Johnson) and Vance (Bowen Yang) berating Zelensky (Mikey Day) for not being sufficiently thankful for aid against Russian aggression.
—William Vaillancourt, Rolling Stone, 2 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for cold open
Cite this Entry
“Cold open.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cold%20open. Accessed 8 Apr. 2025.
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