Talk Down Meaning

(transitive) To convince a person to cease a drastic action or response, such as a suicide attempt or act of rage.

Example:   If he offers a very high price, see if you can talk him down before you agree to anything.
1960 Feb, “Business with FAA”, Flying Magazine, page 109:
  GET TALKED DOWN: When a pilot gets caught in weather, he may call the nearest tower for Ground Controlled Approach landing assistance, wherever the airport has GCA radar.
2000, Larry King, Anything Goes!: What I've Learned from Pundits, Politicians, and Presidents, ISBN 0759520356, page 139:
  He got out, looked at me, and said, “I feel like Doris Day in Julie when she was talked down by air traffic control and landed the airplane.”[.]
2008, Winston Fletcher, Powers of Persuasion: The Inside Story of British Advertising 1951-2000, ISBN 0191647594:
  Its Spielberg-inspired first commercial, in which Manhattan Island floated loftily through the sky and was talked down by air traffic control at Heathrow[.]
2008, Nelson DeMille and Thomas Block, Mayday, ISBN 0748109455:
  In other words, if you talk him down and he crashes, you're worse off than if you hadn't tried.
  The pilot had a heart attack while flying and a passenger had to be talked down by Air Traffic Control.
2007, Deep Storm by Lincoln Child
  Talk him down, the rule book went. Calm him, get him secured. Easier said than done. Crane had talked down a would-be jumper standing on a support cable of the George Washington Bridge.
Shelby: A Great Love by CJ Raines
  And that guy that talked him down told us what happen. It's kidnapping, attempted assault.