cool off

Verb

cool off (third-person singular simple present cools off, present participle cooling off, simple past and past participle cooled off)

1. (intransitive) To decrease in temperature, activity, or temper.
   • You are getting a little too angry; you need to cool off.
   • The metal will take about three hours to cool off after the molding.
2. (transitive) To cause to decrease in temperature, activity or temper.
   • At first he was very angry, but his friends managed to cool him off.
3. (intransitive) To lose interest or enthusiasm [with on].
   • 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 655
   • The YouGov research – contrary to other polls – also suggested Brits have cooled off on the idea of Thatcher's flagship "right to buy" policy2013 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 2021
4. (intransitive) To be imprisoned.
   • He's cooling off in the state pen.
5. (slang, transitive) To kill (someone).
6. (intransitive, slang) To 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.
   • 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