冷やす

• Reading: ひやす
• Romaji: hiyasu
• Kanji breakdown: 冷 (hi) — cold, to chill (冫 = ice radical)
• Pronunciation: /çi.ja.sɯ/

Meaning

To cool; to chill; to refrigerate. To make something cold or lower its temperature.

A Group 1 (godan) verb for lowering the temperature of food, drinks, or the body. Used in cooking for chilling desserts, cooling hot dishes, and refrigerating ingredients. The related intransitive form is 冷える (to get cold). Also used in the expression 頭を冷やす (to cool one's head, meaning to calm down).

Examples

1. ゼリーを冷蔵庫で三時間冷やしてください。 Please chill the jelly in the fridge for three hours.
2. スイカを川の水で冷やして食べました。 We cooled the watermelon in the river and ate it.
3. 作ったスープは冷やしてから保存します。 Let the soup cool down before storing it.

Usage Guide

Context: cooking, food storage, daily life

Tone: neutral

Origin & History

From the kanji 冷 (cold), which combines 冫 (ice radical) and 令 (command). The す ending makes it a transitive verb — actively causing something to become cold.

Cultural Context

Era: Ancient

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal