get cold feet

UK/ˌɡɛt ˈkəʊld fiːt/US/ˌɡɛt ˈkoʊld fit/

verb

To become nervous about going through with something.

“Near-synonym: chicken out”

Similar
chicken out
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Meanings

verbget cold feet (third-person singular simple present gets cold feet, present participle getting cold feet, simple past got cold feet, past participle (UK) got cold feet or (US) gotten cold feet)

present singular third person gets cold feet · participle present getting cold feet · past got cold feet · UK participle past got cold feet · US participle past gotten cold feet

  1. To become nervous about going through with something.

    Near-synonym: chicken out

    1 more example

    As we accelerate after leaving Didcot, we pass a lot of masts erected for wires that have not yet materialised - and probably won't for years to come. That's because halfway through the Great Western Electrification Programme, ministers suddenly got cold feet as the cost escalated.

    2020 July 12, Christian Wolmar, “Cab ride reveals the pluses and minuses of Oxford route”, in RAIL, number 987, page 44

    Synonyms: chicken out

Synonyms & antonyms

verbTo become nervous about going through with something.

Similar
chicken out
Also see
bottle out

Translations

Chinese Mandarin 臨陣退縮 /临阵退缩, 臨陣退縮 /临阵退缩
  • 臨陣退縮 /临阵退缩verb
  • 臨陣退縮 /临阵退缩 (línzhèntuìsuō)verb
Danish få kolde fødder, trække i land
  • få kolde fødderverb
  • trække i landverb
Dutch watervrees hebben, plankenkoorts hebben
  • watervrees hebbenverb
  • plankenkoorts hebbenverb
Finnish jänistää
  • jänistääverb
German kalte Füße bekommen
  • kalte Füße bekommenverb
Hebrew קיבל רגליים קרות
  • קיבל רגליים קרותverb
Hungarian inába száll a bátorsága, visszariad
  • inába száll a bátorságaverb
  • visszariadverb
  • visszarettenverb
  • elbátortalanodikverb
  • beijedverb
  • begyulladverb
  • berezelverb
  • begazolverb
  • bemajrézikverb
Italian farsi il sangue amaro, fifa
  • farsi il sangue amaroverb
  • fifaverb
  • avere i sudori freddiverb
Norwegian Bokmål få kalde føtter
  • få kalde føtterverb
Polish mieć pietra
  • mieć pietraverb
Portuguese amarelar
  • amarelarverb
Swedish få kalla fötter
  • få kalla fötterverb
Turkish çekinmek, gözü yememek
  • çekinmekverb
  • gözü yememekverb
  • götü yememekverb
Cite this entry
APA

get cold feet. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/get%20cold%20feet

MLA

“get cold feet.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/get%20cold%20feet. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “get cold feet,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/get%20cold%20feet.

Source: get cold feet on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.