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GET COLD FEET definition: 1. to suddenly become too frightened to do something you had planned to do, especially something…. Learn more.
- English (US)
GET COLD FEET meaning: 1. to suddenly become too frightened...
- Znaczenie Get Cold Feet, Definicja W Cambridge English Dictionary
GET COLD FEET definicja: 1. to suddenly become too...
- English (US)
Nov 29, 2022 · Cold feet is an idiom that means you’ve lost the courage to do something. It comes from the Italian phrase aver freddo ai piedi, which means "to be without money". It also has German roots, related to the German phrase kalte Füße bekommen, which means "to get cold feet". The phrase first appeared in print in 1896 and was used to describe soldiers who refused to fight in World War I.
Apr 19, 2024 · cold feet: [plural noun] apprehension or doubt strong enough to prevent a planned course of action.
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- Meaning | Synonyms
- Example Sentences
- Origin
loss of couragefailure of confidenceto hesitate a lotsuddenly become too frightened to do something one had planned to doHe got cold feetwhen heard the news of his transfer to remote area of the country which is hundreds of miles from his home town.The burglar has got cold feet, when the dog started barking.Veronica gets cold feetonce again about going on a trip to Europe.Peter is getting cold feet about helping investigation agencies – it smells something fishy.It seems as if the phrase was originally used by Presbyterian missionaries in the 1800s. The original phrase was: This insinuates that someone cannot be converted if they are poor. The phrase was often in reference to poor people. If you had no money for shoes then your feet would be cold. There are also some examples that point to the origin of th...
Definition of cold feet in the Idioms Dictionary. cold feet phrase. What does cold feet expression mean? Definitions by the largest Idiom Dictionary.
The idiom cold feet is attributed to Stephen Crane’s 1896 novel: Maggie, a Girl of the Streets: The mere boy occupied himself with cocktails and cigar. He was tranquilly silent for half an hour. Then he bestirred himself and spoke. “Well,” he said, sighing, “I knew this was the way it would be. They got cold feet .”.
On the face of it there doesn’t seem to be any obvious connection with the literal meaning of cold feet and the meaning of the phrase. There are a couple of citations of the phrase from 1896, including this from Stephen Crane’s novel Maggie, a girl of the streets, 1896: “I knew this was the way it would be. They got cold feet.”.
