Meaning
To panic and abandon self-control, acting irrationally in a crisis, or to become so carried away by excitement or infatuation that judgement fails. It names a temporary loss of composure, the opposite of staying calm and collected. Neutral register; common in reporting on sport, emergencies, and romance. Regional use: General English.
Origin
The expression began as a plain description of literal decapitation and moved figuratively from there. Christine Ammer's Dictionary of Cliches dates the figurative sense, becoming so agitated that one cannot act sensibly, to the mid-19th century, illustrating it with Macaulay's History of England (1855), where a member 'lost his head, almost fainted away on the floor of the House'. Wiktionary's earliest dated quotation for the panic sense is Henry James in 1884. The same reference tradition records that the positive partner, 'keep one's head', is roughly two centuries older, so 'lose one's head' most likely developed as its antonym rather than directly from the scaffold. Suggestions that the figurative use reaches back to the early modern period are not supported by the standard dating.
Research Sources
References used to check this entry’s meaning, history, or documented forms.
Variants
- don't lose your head
- lose one's head
- losing your head
- lost his head
Usage Examples
- The goalkeeper lost his head in the final minutes and gave away a penalty.
- Rescuers are trained not to lose their heads when a search goes badly.
- She lost her head completely when the fire alarm sounded and left her passport behind.