потерять голову

• ТЕРЯТЬ/ПОТЕРЯТЬ ГОЛОВУ coll

[VP; subj: human]

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1. потерять голову (от чего) to lose one's poise, common sense, not know how to act (in a difficult situation):

- X потерял голову{{}}≈ X lost his head (senses);

- X panicked;

- [in limited contexts] X went to pieces;

|| Neg X не потерял голову <-ы> ≈ X kept his head (his cool, his wits about him);

- X kept a level head.

     ♦ [Надежда Антоновна:] Я совершенно потеряла голову. Что нам делать!.. У нас опять накопилась пропасть долгов (Островский 4). [N. А.:] I have lost my head completely. What are we to do?... We're up to our necks in debt again (4b).

     ♦ Как полусонный бродил он без цели по городу, не будучи в состоянии решить, он ли сошёл с ума, чиновники ли потеряли голову, во сне ли всё это делается или наяву заварилась дурь почище сна (Гоголь 3). Like a sleepwalker, he stalked the streets of the town, unable to make up his mind whether it was he who had gone mad or the officials who had lost their senses, whether he was dreaming or all this idiotic nonsense was happening while he was wide awake (3e).

     ♦ ...Потеряв голову, опозорясь с нобелевской церемонией, власти прекратили публичную травлю... (Солженицын 2). ...Having panicked, and disgraced themselves over the Nobel ceremony, the authorities stopped hounding me publicly... (2a).

2. потерять голову (от чего) to become conceited, get a false sense of one's own importance, abilities etc, usu. from praise, success etc:

- X потерял голову (от Y-a) ≈ Y went to X's head;

- X had (got) a swelled head;

- X was (became) giddy (with success).

3. потерять голову (от кого) [pfv only]

⇒ to fall passionately in love with s.o., become completely infatuated with s.o.:

- X потерял голову (от Y-a) - X (completely) lost his head (over Y);

- X fell head over heels in love (with Y);

- X fell hard for Y.

     ♦ ...На четвёртый год замужества, встретив Люсьена, Муш потеряла голову (Эренбург 4). ...In her fourth year of married life Mouche met Lucien and lost her head completely (4a).