verb phrase🎓 English idiom

pull yourself together

to calm down and regain control

What it means

To regain control of your emotions and behaviour after being upset, panicked, or distracted. It is usually said to someone who needs to calm down and start coping again.

Examples

  • Pull yourself together; the interview starts in five minutes.
  • It took her a moment to pull herself together after the bad news.
  • Come on, pull yourself together, crying won't fix the problem.
  • He splashed water on his face and pulled himself together before the meeting.

Where it comes from

The expression dates to the 19th century and uses the image of gathering one's scattered parts or faculties back into a single, composed whole. It frames emotional control as physically reassembling oneself.

Related idioms

#keep your chin up#blow off steam#sit tight#keep your fingers crossed

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