From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishgather/collect/recover etc your witsgather/collect/recover etc your witsto make yourself think about what you are going to do next after you have been surprised by something I felt helpless, but tried to gather my wits. → wit
Examples from the Corpus
gather/collect/recover etc your wits• It is gone even before the predator can gather its wits and make chase.• She slowly gathered her wits, and looked round.• He remained still and tried to gather his wits.• I felt helpless, but tried to gather my wits.• I tried to collect my wits for the arrival. 