lose one's head

• IPA^(key): /luːz wʌnz hɛd/

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

lose one's head (third-person singular simple present loses one's head, present participle losing one's head, simple past and past participle lost one's head)

1. (figuratively) To be killed, usually in a gruesome manner.
2. (literal) To suffer decapitation.
3. (idiomatic) To behave irrationally or to lose one's self-control, especially in a distressing situation or as a result of falling in love.
   • 1884, Henry James, chapter 4, in The Author of Beltraffio:

     Mrs. Ambient's grief was frantic; she lost her head and said strange things.

   • 1914, D. H. Lawrence, “A Sick Collier”, in The Prussian Officer and Other Stories:

     Losing his head entirely, the young collier raved like a madman, what with pain and fear of hospital.

   • 1940 November, “Notes and News: A Highland Collision”, in Railway Magazine, page 612:

     He then had to jump, and appears to have lost his head, as instead of walking the short distance forward to Slochd to let the signalman know what had happened, he started the 6½-mile walk back to Carrbridge.

   • 2003 May 6, Bill Keller, “Walter Sisulu, Mandela Mentor and Comrade, Dies at 90”, in New York Times, retrieved 12 Dec. 2009:

     "He never lost his head in a crisis," Mr. Mandela wrote of his comrade.

4. (idiomatic) To be dismissed from a job.

• Only applicable to certain senses and situations:
• flip out
• freak out
• head over heels
• in love
• lose one's marbles
• lose one's mind
• off with someone's head
• panic
• wig out

• keep one's head

• lose one's head if it wasn't attached