idiom · informal
get cold feet
UK/ɡet kəʊld fiːt/US/ɡet koʊld fiːt/get·COLD·feet
speaking
to suddenly become too nervous to do something you had planned to do
Examples
“He was going to propose but he got cold feet at the last minute.”
“A lot of people get cold feet before big exams.”
“She booked the trip but got cold feet and cancelled.”
Band 8 sentence
“I was all set to fly solo on the project, but when the deadline came I inexplicably got cold feet.”
Collocations
- get cold feet about something
- not get cold feet
Word family
cold feet (noun) nounbe/get cold feet (phrasal verb) phrasal verb
Common mistakes
get cold foot→get cold feet
have cold feet→get cold feet
Say it for a higher band
5be nervous→6have second thoughts→7+get cold feet
Synonyms
have second thoughts
Easily confused
have second thoughts
“She had second thoughts about the move and decided to stay.”
Related words
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In Relationships
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