This week’s theme
Terms used figuratively

This week’s words
gilded cage
cheeseparing
cold feet
ephemera
golden handcuffs

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A.Word.A.Day

PRONUNCIATION:

(kold feet)

MEANING:

noun: A feeling of apprehension or doubt about proceeding with a planned action.

ETYMOLOGY:

From cold + foot, from Old English cald (cold) + fot (foot). It’s not known why the expression is cold feet instead of, say, cold fingers. Earliest documented use: 1893.

USAGE:

“We thought you’d had cold feet and were chickening out.”
Laureen Kwock; One Touch of Paradise; Thomas Bouregy; 1991.

See more usage examples of cold feet in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: