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Cold feet

noun, slang

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A feeling of nervousness or anxiousness causing one to reconsider a decision about an upcoming event. informal, plural, plural-only

    "The groom got cold feet before his wedding."

  2. 2
    timidity that prevents the continuation of a course of action wordnet
  3. 3
    Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see cold, feet. plural, plural-only

Etymology

Idiomatic sense possibly from a calque of German kalte Füße bekommen (“to get cold feet”), or of Lombard avegh minga frecc i pee (“to have no money”, literally “to be cold in the feet”) (Italian aver freddo ai piedi), said by a person who wishes to stop gambling, allegedly because the person now has cold feet due to being too poor to afford proper footwear.

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