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cool

coolverb

American /kul/ British /kuːl/ Cool rhymes with pool.

third-person singular cools past tense cooled past participle cooled present participle cooling

very commondefining vocabulary

temperaturebecome less warm, or make something less warm
transitive or intransitive [T/I] verb + object [V + obj] verb + adverb or preposition [V + adv/prep]
- Leave the cake to cool before you cut it.
- The evening air cooled quickly after sunset. V + adv/prep
- A small fan cooled the room a little. V + obj
Collocations
verb + adverb cool slightly, cool quickly, cool completely
phrase allow something to cool, leave something to cool
Antonyms warm; heat
feelingsbecome less strong, or make something less strong
Used of feelings such as anger, interest, or love, and of relationships.
transitive or intransitive [T/I] verb + object [V + obj]
- Their friendship cooled after the argument.
- Wait until tempers have cooled before you talk to him.
- The bad news cooled their interest in the plan. V + obj
Collocations
noun + verb tempers cool, interest cools, a relationship cools

Phrases

cool it informal

used to tell someone to become calm or to stop doing something

Cool it, you two. Stop shouting.
Just cool it. There is no need to get angry.

Word family

cool
cool
cooler

Usage

Cool alone is common, especially for food, drink, and air. The phrasal verbs cool down and cool off are also very common in everyday speech: let the soup cool down.

See also cool down; cool off