: How to explain the cold How could one explain breathing when it's really cold outside and you can see your breath? I just can't find a good way to word it.

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Brrrrrrrrrrr!.....

Brrrrrrrrrrr!.....

T'was so cold her breath instantly formed icicles, sharp fingertips of hardened ice that skewered her chest and froze her blood and congealed her heart; and in her last moments, tears formed in the corners of her eyes, made solid by the prevailing cold, and oh! wonders!!! they formed as pearls, beautiful wonderous pearls...

... that could have been sold to buy a dollars heater, or wood to burn, and a lot more to spare, but no, alas, the author wants the melodrama of a little poor matchstick girl dying frozen,,. boo hoo hoo She can't even afford heat

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The biting cold filled [his/her] lungs with every breath of the stale air that filled the small home. The warm exhale was more palatable, but [he/she] braced for fresh shards of ice to stab [his/her] throat again.

Thought I might exaggerate a bit. Not sure how cold you were going for.

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It's called "vapor", "breath vapor", "[they] can see [their] breath", "exhaled steam", "frosty breath" etc...

imho this is better suited for English SE.

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