come to one's senses

present singular third person comes to one's senses · participle present coming to one's senses · past came to one's senses

1. idiomaticTo reawaken after having lost consciousness.

   He turned toward the door, plunged forward, fell unconscious. . . . When he came to his senses he was in his bed—comfortable, weak, lazy.

   1904, David Graham Phillips, chapter 25, in The Cost

   2 more examples

   [H]e dropped from his seat at my side, like a man struck dead. The stifling heat in the theater had proved too much for him. We carried him out at once into the fresh air. When he came to his senses, my friend entreated me to leave him, and see the end of the play.

   1884, Wilkie Collins, Mr. Lepel and the Housekeeper, First Epoch

   The accident sent Bahutule into coma straight away. When he came to his senses, he lay in bed with a fractured right femur bone and a crushed left elbow.

   2015 September 1, Aadya Sharma, “Sairaj Bahutule: Indian domestic cricket legend”, in Sportskeeda, archived from the original on 28 Jun 2022, retrieved 02 Oct 2016

   Synonyms: come to, come round

2. idiomaticTo become reasonable, comprehending, or responsible, especially after having behaved in an unreasonable, confused, uncomprehending, or irresponsible manner.

   “She is mad with sorrow, but maybe after a few days she will come to her senses,” says one man.

   2010 January 26, Bobby Ghosh, “The Haiti Earthquake”, in TIME, archived from the original on 21 Oct 2021, retrieved 02 Oct 2016

   3 more examples

   Dick had not been altogether in his right senses. . . . He found his mother weeping as though her heart would break; whereat his own heart smote him so that he came to his senses there and then, and knelt in humility and shame at her feet.

   1904, E. W. Hornung, chapter 32, in At Large

   “I shall never divorce you,” he said, as if a nail had been driven in. . . . She went upstairs and told Hilda the upshot. “Better get away tomorrow,” said Hilda, “and let him come to his senses.”

   1928, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, chapter XIX, in Lady Chatterley’s Lover, [Germany?]: Privately printed, →OCLC

   Thus, after eighteen months of fantastic and ruinous warfare, the companies had come to their senses and agreed to do what they might have done at the start; the only gainers were the passengers who had been carried at ridiculously uneconomic fares.

   1956 January, M. D. Greville, “Scottish Railways in 1856”, in Railway Magazine, page 53

   Synonyms: sense, smarten up