in a cold sweat
IdiomsExample Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
As the harried solo parent of a sick child, Byrne lets the camera zoom in so close to her character’s insecurities that the audience breaks out in a cold sweat.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 10, 2026
Charles Green, Imran Ahmad, Derek Llambias, Barry Leach, David Somers - all these and more still have the capacity to make some on the current board break out in a cold sweat.
From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2024
"Even when I realise I am not in Kuta traffic, I can shake in fear, break out in a cold sweat and feel really scared."
From Reuters ● Oct. 11, 2022
Even the most devoted cat owners wonder at some point, perhaps waking up in a cold sweat in the middle of the night, whether their cat really loves them.
From Scientific American ● Oct. 5, 2022
Relief floods through me and I break out in a cold sweat as he looks from me to Julie, a sheepish expression on his face as he holds up his fingertip sensor.
From "Five Feet Apart" by Rachael Lippincott
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
