cold sore
US/ˈkoʊld ˌsɔɹ/
cold sore noun: a small bump (namely a vesicle) on the lips resulting from infection by herpes simplex viruses (mostly HHV1 but also HHV2).
Noun
cold sore (plural cold sores)
- A small bump (namely a vesicle) on the lips resulting from infection by herpes simplex viruses (mostly HHV1 but also HHV2).
- Synonyms:
- fever blister, herpes, herpes simplex, herpes simplex 1, herpes labialis
cold sore meaning in Vietnamese
cold sore in Vietnamese
- small bump on the lips
- mụn rộp
Synonyms of cold sore
- fever blister
- herpes
- herpes simplex
- herpes simplex 1
- herpes labialis
Forms of cold sore
| plural | cold sores |
|---|
Origin of cold sore
Compound of cold + sore, probably for the tendency of the vesicles to recur along with other illness, or possibly during cold weather, though this explanation is less common. Compare synonym fever blister.
Questions about cold sore
- What does cold sore mean?
- Cold sore means a small bump (namely a vesicle) on the lips resulting from infection by herpes simplex viruses (mostly HHV1 but also HHV2).
- What is cold sore in Vietnamese?
- Cold sore in Vietnamese is mụn rộp. See Cold sore meaning in Vietnamese.
- What part of speech is cold sore?
- Cold sore is a noun.
- How do you pronounce cold sore?
- Cold sore is pronounced /ˈkoʊld ˌsɔɹ/ (US).
- What is the plural of cold sore?
- The plural of cold sore is cold sores.
Words near cold sore in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: cold sore (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-cold sore.wav.
Cite this entry: “cold sore.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/cold_sore. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.