pull in one's horns

Verb

pull in one's horns (third-person singular simple present pulls in one's horns, present participle pulling in one's horns, simple past and past participle pulled in one's horns)

1. (idiomatic) To become less impassioned, aggressive, or argumentative; to exercise restraint; to yield or capitulate.
   • Barry . . . stood, during this tirade, half stupefied with rage, and half frightened, at the open attack made on him. . . . However, he couldn't pull in his horns now, and he was obliged, in self-defence, to brazen it out.1848, Anthony Trollope, chapter 7, in The Kellys and the O'Kellys
   • "I see Cooky's finish," I heard Smoke say to Horner. "You bet," was the reply. "Hump runs the galley from now on, and Cooky pulls in his horns."1904, Jack London, chapter 9, in The Sea-Wolf (Macmillan’s Standard Library), New York, N.Y.: Grosset & Dunlap, →OCLC

   Synonyms:

   calm down, chill, chill out, cool off, cool one's jets, hold one's horses, settle down