go cold turkey

go cold turkey

To stop doing or using something abruptly and completely. Most commonly said of drug, alcohol, or tobacco use, it can also refer to any bad habit. I tried quitting smoking for several years, using nicotine patches, gums, and even hypnotherapy. Eventually, I just had to go cold turkey and rely on my own willpower. I was eating way too much junk food and was gaining a lot of weight as a result. Finally, I just went cold turkey and stopped buying anything but healthy food.
See also: cold, go, turkey
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

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, go, turkey
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.

go cold turkey

INFORMAL
1. If someone goes cold turkey, they suddenly stop taking drugs that they depend on. You can't just go cold turkey, because that's not how you successfully deal with addiction. Note: People use cold turkey to describe the experience of doing this. His book describes the 30-day cold turkey of a heroin addict.
2. If someone goes cold turkey, they suddenly stop having or doing something that they are used to. Unless you go cold turkey and leave your mobile phone at home, you will have no peace during your vacation. Note: People use cold turkey to describe the experience of doing this. Compulsive shopping is just like any other addiction and the recession means cold turkey for Judith Summers.
See also: cold, go, turkey
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed.

go cold turkey

suddenly and completely stop taking drugs.
The image is of one of the possible unpleasant side effects of this, involving bouts of shivering and sweating that cause goose flesh or goose pimples, a bumpy condition of the skin which resembles the flesh of a dead plucked turkey.
See also: cold, go, turkey
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary
See also:
  • abortive action
  • bring (one) up with a start
  • bring (one) up sharply
  • bring up sharply
  • bring/pull somebody up short
  • bring (one) up short
  • bring someone up short
  • chuck (something) over (something)
  • chuck over
  • cut in on (something)
References in periodicals archive
"It's very difficult to go cold turkey and say, 'No, that's it', but that is from a purchasing point of view." S
O'Leary: I've gone cold turkey over horse buying
EMMERDALE ITV, 7pm DAWN has decided to go cold turkey, which might not have been the best plan.
SOAP watch; Your guide to all the drama in the Square, on the cobbles and in the Dales
Seb lands Sarah in trouble EMMERDALE ITV, 7pm DAWN has decided to go cold turkey, which might not have been the best plan.
SOAP watch; Your guide to all the drama taking place on the cobbles and in the Dales
Your guide to all the drama in the Square, on the cobbles and in the Dales EMMERDALE ITV, 7pm DAWN has decided to go cold turkey, which might not have been the best plan.
SOAP watch
Withdrawl symptoms mean Dawn is feeling the strain DAWN has decided to go cold turkey, which might not have been the best plan.
SOAP watch; Your guide to all the drama in the Square, on the cobbles and in the Dales
EMPOWERED get all the You can go cold turkey, switch to a smoke-free alternative or visit your local NHS stop smoking service.
i needed more THAN willpower
If they were drug addicts they wouldn't expect them to go cold turkey without methadone.
Word on the web; Smoking to be banned at hospitals, schools and playgrounds by 2019
When Harry finds his boyfriend curled up on the kitchen floor, he realises what's going on, and in a three-hander episode, the teenager and Tony join forces to make Ste go cold turkey. Yet despite their best efforts, Ste still smashes the twins' moneybox and runs off to contact his dealer.
soap box
Elsewhere, David and Tracy get steamy when they're locked in the B&B, plus Moira helps Holly go cold turkey.
The week in soap
Smokers are more likely to kick the habit if they go cold turkey. Scientists found those with the willpower to give up in one go were 25 per cent more likely to succeed.
This week; Your health
You have to go cold turkey on the texts and emails, at least for now so you can move on.
I'm heartbroken my no-go guy has found love; Dear Coleen THE STRAIGHTALKING PROBLEM PAGE
Patients like this one, whose brain activity is being monitored by psychologists, go cold turkey from the Web for about four months; they're watched by guards, eat a special diet, and undergo psychological therapy and military-style physical training.
Deprogramming China's Internet addicts
But this perky account probably won't compel you to go cold turkey. Even Carpenter admits that his book wouldn't exist were it not for a certain bitter dust helping him along.
Caffeinated
The data, collected from 6,200 current and former smokers by Pfizer as part of its Don't Go Cold Turkey campaign, found that a quarter of smokers have avoided drinking any alcohol whilst trying to quit, the Daily Star reported.
Lengths smokers go to for kicking the butt
The report has been carried out by Pfizer Limited, who have launched a Don't Go Cold Turkey campaign, having discovered that going 'cold turkey' is the most popular method Tynesiders use in their bid to quit smoking.
Scheme to get smokers to stamp out their habit