to cool down
19
2.5
- phrasal verb
- /kuːl daʊn/
- Informal
:
calmarse
- Distracting your mind for a minute gives you a chance to process and cool down.
- let them cool down
- needs to cool down
- just cool down
It's better to wait till things cool down in a good moment.
- It's better to wait till things cool down in a good moment.
- Why don't you just slow down, Calm down, cool down for a few days.
- And there's neuroscience that their amygdala cools down if you just listen with.
Examples
-
But as a librarian, I must encourage everyone to take a moment to cool down.
Blog text (16) -
You need time to cool down and relax before your session.
Blog text (16) -
I just gotta take a walk and cool down.
-
No, I think right now he just needs to cool down...
-
Dude, you gotta cool down.
-
Always give employees time to cool down after getting bad news.
Fiction book (1995) -
Look, he blew off all of his steam and now he needs to cool down.
-
Just give Jasmine time to cool down.
-
People vent in them, and then when they cool down, they make decisions.
Blog text (13) -
After the heated argument, she decided to take a moment to cool down before responding.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
To feel less nervous and more calm
962
1.0
Make a person or animal less upset
594
1.4
To become less angry, excited, or upset
146
4.1
To become less strong in feeling or interest
99
4.9
To relax and become calm after you feel upset
57
3.7
To make something less strong or strict
56
2.5
To become quiet and calm after being excited
55
6.2
To calm down and stop being angry or excited
54
3.8
To become less strong, especially for bad weather, pain, or pressure
50
2.7
To become calmer, less angry, or less hot
46
2.7
To become less strong or loud over time
39
3.7
To relax after a busy or stressful time and slowly come to an end
35
3.4
Become relaxed and less tense after work or a stressful time
31
3.4
To relax and become less nervous or tense
17
7.4
To act in a less loud or angry way
14
4.1
To become calm after strong feelings or to tell someone else to calm down
10
6.3
Become more relaxed and easygoing
9
4.0
To become gradually less strong or severe
2
8.6
Calm down and relax after feeling stressed or excited
Antonyms
How Calm
Surface Forms
Morphology
The verb 'cool' already carries the sense of reducing intensity and combined with the particle 'down' (indicating decrease or reduction) the idiom's meaning 'become less angry/excited' is directly inferable from the parts. This is a common, compositional V+particle pattern found cross-linguistically, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily understand the MWE.
Etymology
Cool down uses the same idea but for feelings: think of anger like a hot fire, and cool and down show the heat getting smaller. When the heat goes away, you feel calm again, so cool down means 'to become less angry or excited'.