keep one's head
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
Remain calm and think clearly in a difficult situation
Literally: retain one's mental faculties
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
She kept her head during the emergency and called for help
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.
Equivalents & related
Common questions
What does “keep one's head” mean?
Remain calm and think clearly in a difficult situation Literally: retain one's mental faculties
Is “keep one's head” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.
What is the closest equivalent?
“trấn tĩnh” (Tiếng Việt) — near equivalent.