Get cold feet means to lose your nerve at the last minute and back out. Picture someone who has already decided on a big step, such as a wedding, a move or a parachute jump, but just before it they get scared and start to doubt it or pull out. The idiom is conversational; in an IELTS essay, decided not to go ahead is more neutral.
When would you say get cold feet?
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get/have cold feet (about + noun/-ing)
- Tom got cold feet the night before his wedding, but he turned up at the church in the end.
- I was going to quit my job and travel for a year, but I got cold feet.
- Two investors got cold feet about the project when the costs started to rise.
What changed
First versionHe got cold legs and didn't sign the contract.
RevisionHe got cold feet and didn't sign the contract.
Legs and feet are easy to confuse, and legs may seem the natural choice. But the idiom always uses feet, and always in the plural. Only legs was changed to feet.
Have second thoughts is milder: the person has doubts but may not change their decision: I had second thoughts about the flat, but I signed the contract anyway. After getting cold feet, people usually back out. And if your feet are literally cold, simply say: My feet are cold.
Your turn
Maria had booked a parachute jump for her birthday, but when she saw the tiny plane, she ___ and went home.
Show the answer
got cold feet — Maria got scared and pulled out of the jump at the last minute, which is exactly got cold feet. Itchy feet means a wish to get up and travel somewhere, whereas Maria went home.
Think of a time when you or someone you know lost their nerve at the last minute. Say what the person was going to do and how it ended.
My brother got cold feet before his first job interview in English, so he moved it to the following week.
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