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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

keep one's head en · VERB

Pronunciation

Meanings

  1. (idiomatic) To remain calm, reasonable, level-headed, especially in a situation likely to cause distress.
    • Officials are calling the woman a hero for keeping her head and finding the only way out amid the panic of the smoke and flames. 2008 March 7, “Mother Throws 7 Kids Out Window To Save Them From Fire”, in CityNews, Canada, retrieved 12 Dec 2009:
    • The ruffian kept his head, and though the dog's teeth were in his shoulder, he managed to get his right hand free. 1910, John Buchan, chapter 16, in Prester John:
    • If you can keep your head when all about you Are losing theirs and blaming it on you . . . 1895, Rudyard Kipling, If—:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
keeping one's head Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
keep one's head on one's shoulders alternative lexicographic
kept one's head Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
kept one's head Tense=Past lexicographic
keeps one's head Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres lexicographic

Antonyms

lose one's head · panic

Relateds

keep one's head above water