sinking feeling, a

Idioms  

1. A sense of dread or apprehension, as in I had a sinking feeling that I'd forgotten my ticket. This expression employs sink in the sense of “become depressed,” a usage dating from the early 1600s.

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Example Sentences

I felt as if something had caught me by the stomach—inside: a sinking feeling, a feeling of nausea: and for a while I lay still.

From Project Gutenberg

He could not stir, only stand gazing there with a horrible sinking feeling—a terrible dread, and though the sun rose slowly, his light seemed pale and sickly to the heart-stricken man, whose worst fears seemed confirmed when the door opened, and the heavy, burly figure of the doctor appeared, coming softly down the gravel-walk.

From Project Gutenberg