cast a chill

cast a chill (third-person singular simple present casts a chill, present participle casting a chill, simple past and past participle cast a chill)

1. (idiomatic) To provoke an uneasy feeling which stops a conversation, as by an uncalled act or word.

   His menacing presence cast a chill over everyone.

   • 1904, Kazimierz Waliszewski, Lady Mary Loyd (translator), Ivan the Terrible, Part 4, Chapter 2

     ...the perusal of the letter he had brought from his master cast a chill over things.

• send chills