cooling-off period
Americannoun
noun
-
a period during which the contending sides to a dispute reconsider their options before taking further action
-
a statutory period, often 14 days, that begins when a sale contract or life-assurance policy is received by a member of the public, during which the contract or policy can be cancelled without loss
Etymology
Origin of cooling-off period
First recorded in 1945–50
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Cerebras went public over a decade after its founding, catching a second wind of market enthusiasm for AI after a cooling-off period earlier this year.
From Barron's ● May 15, 2026
Depending on the answer, it might be time for a cooling-off period.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 29, 2026
And background checks and a mandatory cooling-off period for gun sales were introduced.
From BBC ● Dec. 19, 2025
After four of them, there was a brief pause, or a cooling-off period with little movement, before the index, and the broader stock market, made a higher high.
From MarketWatch ● Dec. 8, 2025
The heating-up and cooling-off period of time are therefore not included.
From Every Step in Canning by Grace Viall Gray
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
