Meanings
present singular third person cools off · participle present cooling off · participle past cooled off · past cooled off
- intransitiveTo decrease in temperature, activity, or temper.
You are getting a little too angry; you need to cool off.
1 more example
The metal will take about three hours to cool off after the molding.
- transitiveTo cause to decrease in temperature, activity or temper.
At first he was very angry, but his friends managed to cool him off.
- intransitiveTo lose interest or enthusiasm [with on].
He talked with the Montgomerys and learned that it was working — they were cooling off on the deal.
2019, William Arntz, How to Suffer ... In 10 Easy Steps: Discover, Embrace and Own the Mechanics of Misery, Watkins Media, →ISBN3 more examples
While talking about freight, I must express my regret that the Government seem to be cooling off on the Channel Tunnel.
1974 December 11, Lord Mowbray and Stourton, “Future Of The Railways”, in House of Lords Hansard, volume 355, column 655The YouGov research – contrary to other polls – also suggested Brits have cooled off on the idea of Thatcher's flagship "right to buy" policy
2013 April 18, James Ball, Tom Clark, “Margaret Thatcher taught Britain to love business, poll finds”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 30 Nov 2021But, by Lieb’s account, the scheming for Ruth’s endorsement collapsed when the Black Sox scandal erupted, and the Harding men “cooled off on the whole subject.”
2015 April 11, Michael Beschloss, “Presidents Who Knew the Babe”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 27 Dec 2022 - intransitiveTo be imprisoned.
He's cooling off in the state pen.
- slangtransitiveTo kill (someone).
- intransitiveslangTo wait for a furor to die down; to hide during a police manhunt.
After doing the job, he went to the safehouse to cool off.
1 more example
Following standard police protocols, a healthy 17-year-old male who walked away after a fight was not treated as an immediate emergency. They assumed he was just cooling off with a friend, but would eventually return.
2026 August 17, Nicholas Muhoro, “Craig Frear Disappeared After Avoiding His Father in 2004, and No Trace of Him Has Ever Been Found”, in Skip Boring, archived from the original on 18 Aug 2026
Synonyms & antonyms
verbbecome quiet or calm, especially after a state of agitation
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Translations
Czech zchladit
- zchladitto reduce in temperature, activity or temper
Dutch afkoelen
- afkoelento reduce in temperature, activity or temper
Finnish jäähdyttää, jäähtyä
- jäähdyttääto cause to reduce in temperature, activity or temper
- jäähtyäto reduce in temperature, activity or temper
German abkühlen
- abkühlento reduce in temperature, activity or temper
Hebrew צִנֵּן, הִצְטַנֵּן
- צִנֵּן (tzinnén)to cause to reduce in temperature, activity or temper
- הִצְטַנֵּן (hitztanén)to reduce in temperature, activity or temper
Hungarian lelohad, lehűl
- lelohadto reduce in temperature, activity or temper
- lehűlto reduce in temperature, activity or temper
Māori whakapongi
- whakapongito reduce in temperature, activity or temper
Polish ochłonąć, stygnąć
- ochłonąćto cause to reduce in temperature, activity or temper
- stygnąćto reduce in temperature, activity or temper
Russian остужа́ть, остуди́ть
- остужа́ть (ostužátʹ)to cause to reduce in temperature, activity or temper
- остуди́ть (ostudítʹ)to cause to reduce in temperature, activity or temper
- охлажда́ть (oxlaždátʹ)to cause to reduce in temperature, activity or temper
- охлади́ть (oxladítʹ)to cause to reduce in temperature, activity or temper
- остыва́ть (ostyvátʹ)to reduce in temperature, activity or temper
- осты́ть (ostýtʹ)to reduce in temperature, activity or temper
- охлажда́ться (oxlaždátʹsja)to reduce in temperature, activity or temper
- охлади́ться (oxladítʹsja)to reduce in temperature, activity or temper
Slovak schladiť, chladiť
- schladiťto cause to reduce in temperature, activity or temper
- chladiťto cause to reduce in temperature, activity or temper
- upokojiťto cause to reduce in temperature, activity or temper
- upokojovaťto cause to reduce in temperature, activity or temper
- vychladnúťto reduce in temperature, activity or temper
- chladnúťto reduce in temperature, activity or temper
- upokojiť sato reduce in temperature, activity or temper
- upokojovať sato reduce in temperature, activity or temper
Ukrainian остига́ти, ости́гнути
- остига́ти (ostyháty)to reduce in temperature, activity or temper
- ости́гнути (ostýhnuty)to reduce in temperature, activity or temper
- ости́гти (ostýhty)to reduce in temperature, activity or temper
Cite this entry
cool off. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cool%20off
“cool off.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cool%20off. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “cool off,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cool%20off.
Source: cool off on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.