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Collywobbles

//ˈkɒlɪwɒb(ə)lz// noun, slang

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A stomach ache or an upset stomach. British, humorous, informal, plural, plural-only

    "Petunia’s off school today with a touch of the collywobbles."

  2. 2
    severe gastroenteritis of unknown etiology; characterized by severe colic and vomiting and diarrhea wordnet
  3. 3
    Anxiety, fear, uneasiness. British, broadly, humorous, informal, plural, plural-only

    "I don’t like walking through the forest at night. It gives me the collywobbles."

Etymology

Probably from colic (“severe pains that grip the abdomen”) + wobble (“unsteady motion”). Alternatively, it has been suggested that the word derives from colly (“coal dust”) (in the sense of someone becoming ill from breathing in such dust), or that it is a corruption of cholera.

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