cool off

1. Also, cool down or out . Calm down, become less ardent, angry, or agitated, as in We can't discuss it until you've cooled off . The verb cool alone has been used in this sense since approximately a.d. 1000; off and down were added in the late 1800s, and Davy Crockett's Almanac (1836) had: “Resting a while, just long enough to cool out a little.”

2. see cool down .

3. Also, cool out . Kill someone, as in They threatened to cool off his brother . [ Slang ; first half of 1800s] Also see cool out , def. 2.

Related Words

• allay
• alleviate
• appease
• assuage
• cool
• mitigate
• mollify
• pacify
• relieve
• soften