get cold feet

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌɡɛt ˈkəʊld fiːt/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˌɡɛt ˈkoʊld fit/

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

get 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)

1. To develop cold feet, in the sense of nervousness about going through with something.
   • 2020 July 12, Christian Wolmar, “Cab ride reveals the pluses and minuses of Oxford route”, in RAIL, number 987, page 44:

     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.