in the heat of the moment
– C1 (advanced) –
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In North American English, this idiom typically means:
DEFINITION
to not think before doing or saying something, often due to feeling a strong emotion (e.g. excitement, sexual arousal, anger, offence, jealousy, etc.)
EXAMPLES
“I can’t believe I just quit my job! I had been so angry with my boss that when she came up to me criticizing my work on our latest project I just blew up, and in the heat of the moment I told her I was done! I started packing up my things and then left. Why didn’t I think before speaking!?”
“Many pregnancies result from being in the heat of the moment. It can sometimes be difficult for two people to think clearly when their minds are distracted by other things…”
“He saw his girlfriend talking to another guy. An attractive guy. He immediately started getting jealous and, in the heat of the moment, walked up to them, punched the guy in the face and started yelling at his girlfriend, which ended with him breaking up with her. Now that he has had time to reflect, he regrets his actions. He wasn’t thinking.”
Have you ever found yourself in the heat of the moment? What happened? What did you do? Practice using this idiom by explaining to me your situation in the comments below.
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