cool down

Idioms  

1. Also, cool off.

2. Effect a lower temperature, especially of the body following vigorous exercise. For example, After a race the coach makes the entire team do stretches to cool down , or Let's take a dip to cool off . These phrases date from a.d. 1000 with reference to the weather or cooking (as in First let the eggs cool off ). The first gained renewed currency with the exercise boom of the late 1900s.

3. See cool off , def. 2.

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Example Sentences

After a record-breaking hot streak in March, Southern California is set to cool down this week and get some precipitation, the National Weather Service says.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 9, 2026

You’d like to see things cool down, the mist cleared from the windows so they can see what’s close by.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 26, 2026

You might go out to work and let the house cool down; then return home and fire up the furnace.

From BBC • Mar. 22, 2026

Traditionally, scientists believed the tin nucleus simply released neutrons to cool down, effectively losing any trace of the earlier beta decay event.

From Science Daily • Mar. 13, 2026

Then it needed thirteen hours to cool down fully.

From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik

Related Words

• curb
• decrease
• define
• diminish
• hamper
• impede
• inhibit
• limit
• narrow
• reduce
• regulate
• restrain
• shorten