Cooldown

Cooldown is a period where an ability or use of a weapon is not available or is reduced. Cooldown takes various forms depending on its use, but in general is a time limit.

Heat
Many weapons in real-life suffer decreased accuracy or fail if they are overused.

In the Battlefield games, certain weapons—especially machine guns—can only be fired in bursts. Each bullet shot adds a specific amount to a heat gauge. The gauge drains at a steady rate. Should the gauge reach maximum (overheat), firing ceases, and the gauge may drain at a slower rate until it is empty again.

Reload
The term "cooldown" may also be applied to other time constraints, such as reloading, weapon switch, or swapping.

Abilities
Certain abilities that can be reused have a cooldown timer:
 * Commander resources
 * Abilities of Battlefield Heroes