keep one's cool

present singular third person keeps one's cool · participle present keeping one's cool · participle past kept one's cool · past kept one's cool

1. idiomaticTo remain composed, calm, and even-tempered, especially in a provocative situation.

   Fighting back panic, she tried to keep her cool and find a way out from under the rubble.

   2009 June 4, Kevin Purdy, Lukas Alpert, “‘The Next Thing I Knew the Ceiling Was on Me’”, in New York Post, retrieved 03 Jun 2009

   3 more examples

   All week long I've been keepin' my cool / But tonight I'm gonna let my hair down / And get down with these down home blues

   1982, George Jackson, “Down Home Blues”, performed by Z. Z. Hill

   In the heat of the afternoon, while Roger Clemens threw a temper tantrum and the Boston Red Sox became unraveled, Dave Stewart kept his cool.

   1990 October 11, Michael Martinez, “THE PLAYOFFS: By the Way, Stewart Leads A's Into Series”, in New York Times, retrieved 03 Jun 2009

   Taiwan’s president told the self-ruled island’s military units Tuesday to keep their cool in the face of daily warplane flights and warship maneuvers by rival China, saying that Taiwan will not allow Beijing to provoke a conflict.

   2022 August 30, Johnson Lai, “Taiwan leader tells troops to keep cool amid Chinese threats”, in The Washington Post, archived from the original on 30 Aug 2022, World

   Synonyms: keep a cool head, have one's wits about one