cold feet

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noun Informal.

a loss or lack of courage or confidence; an onset of uncertainty or fear: She got cold feet when asked to sing a solo.

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Origin of cold feet

First recorded in 1890–95

Words nearby cold feet

cold-draw, cold-drawn, cold drink, cold duck, Colden, cold feet, cold feet, get, cold fish, cold frame, cold front, cold fusion

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use cold feet in a sentence

This is comedy based on a cold humor, detached, euphemistic, devoid of any generosity.
Houellebecq’s Incendiary Novel Imagines France With a Muslim President|Pierre Assouline|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
We indulge in expensive cold-pressed juices and SoulCycle classes, justifying these purchases as investments in our health.
How Taryn Toomey’s ‘The Class’ Became New York’s Latest Fitness Craze|Lizzie Crocker|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Cold War fears could be manipulated through misleading art to attract readers to daunting material.
How Pulp Fiction Saved Literature|Wendy Smith|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
The vaccine is delivered through a “carrier virus” that causes a common cold in chimpanzees but does not affect humans.
The Race for the Ebola Vaccine|Abby Haglage|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST

Accusing his opponents of being locked in a Cold War mind-set, it is Stone who is beholden to old orthodoxies.
Oliver Stone’s Latest Dictator Suckup|James Kirchick|January 5, 2015|DAILY BEAST
He reached forward and took her hands, and if Mrs. Vivian had come in she would have seen him kneeling at her daughter's feet.
Confidence|Henry James
Madame de Condillac stood watching him, her face composed, her glance cold.
St. Martin's Summer|Rafael Sabatini
Moreover, most of the burrows were only a few feet apart and no agonistic behavior was witnessed.
Summer Birds From the Yucatan Peninsula|Erwin E. Klaas
Before the spinet a bench was placed about four feet below the keys, and I was put upon the bench.
Gulliver's Travels|Jonathan Swift
We all rose to our feet, and he shook hands with everybody without waiting to be introduced.
Music-Study in Germany|Amy Fay

British Dictionary definitions for cold feet

cold feet

pl n

informal loss or lack of courage or confidence

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Cultural definitions for cold feet

cold feet

To “have cold feet” is to be too fearful to undertake or complete an action: “The backup quarterback was called into the game, but he got cold feet and refused to go in.”

cold feet

Origin of cold feet

Words nearby cold feet

Words related to cold feet

How to use cold feet in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for cold feet

Cultural definitions for cold feet