the heebie-jeebies

the heebie-jeebies

An extreme or acute sensation of fear, apprehension, worry, or anxiety. Often used with "get" or "give." I always get the heebie-jeebies when I walk through a graveyard. All these ghost stories are giving me the heebie-jeebies.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

heebie-jeebies

and heeby-jeebies (ˈhibiˈdʒibiz)
n. an extreme case of anxiety or fear. I have the heebie-jeebies whenever I go to the dentist.

heeby-jeebies

verb
See heebie-jeebies
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions

heebie-jeebies

Anxiety or fear. Records indicate that “heebie-Jeebies” first appeared in print in a 1923 newspaper cartoon by one Billy DeBeck, in which a character says, “You dumb ox—why don't you get that stupid look offa your pan—you gimme the heeby jeebys!” The spelling changed over the years, as witnessed by its inclusion a year later in the “Alabamy Bound” popularized by the Paul Whitman Orchestra: “I'm Alabamy bound, there'll be no heebie-jeebies hanging 'round . . .”
Endangered Phrases by Steven D. Price
See also:
  • heebie-jeebies
  • heeby
  • heeby-jeebies
  • give (one) the heebie-jeebies
  • the shock of (one's) life
  • the shock of life
  • the fright of (one's) life
  • the fright of your life
  • give (someone) the fright of (someone's) life
  • get the fright of (one's) life
References in periodicals archive
It gives me the heebie-jeebies" SNP MP Hannah Bardell "I don't think Paul Hollywood is nasty.
They said what?
It gives me the heebie-jeebies" - SNP MP Hannah Bardell.
THEY SAID WHAT?
'Second Coming's' genuinely unexpected twists notwithstanding, Jodi's considerable acting chops are no match for the film's charmless characters and snooze-inducing sense of dread that is better at building atmospheric suspense than actually scaring the heebie-jeebies out of viewers.
Trio of thrillers has more bark than bite
"Every time I go to the doctor and they try and use some on me it just gives me the heebie-jeebies.
Woolly bullies; Worker explains phobia after case win
Har perils the on who people keep can't down vo ices The thought of people listening to my calls gives me the heebie-jeebies. If I have to answer my phone during a journey (my Cat-like reflexes mean it will generally ring for less than half a second) I blush apologetically, whisper, ''I'm on the train I'll call you back" and hang up before anyone notices.
Silence is golden but loudmouths all seem to have a real brass neck
Musically, Moldovan group Carla's Dreams have been called everything from pop and R'n'B to jazz and reggae, but it's their look that gives us the heebie-jeebies - the band is anonymous, performing in hoodies, masks and eerie facial make-up.
Fiesta De Los Muertos in Dubai: Who to see this weekend
Research by credit report firm Noddle also shows applying for credit gives more than two-thirds the heebie-jeebies as we worry we will be turned down.
YOUR CREDIT SCORE
EMMA GREEN: This place gave me the heebie-jeebies when I walked around it at 3am.
TWEETS OF THE DAY
Were it not for Brexit giving financial markets the heebie-jeebies, this would have to have been one of the shortest bear markets in living memory -- unless, of course, you take note of doomsters like that blithering idiot of a so-called financial expert who writes, inter-alia no doubt, for the Motley Fool .
Brexit and your savings: an expat's view
THE merest sight of red and white stripes around The Hawthorns normally gives Albion players and fans alike the heebie-jeebies.
High time to stop Stoke being 'thorns in our side; COMMENT
I get the heebie-jeebies reading over and over about the need to install timers at traffic signals.
Speedy Gonzales..
We are asked to say a neat 'hello' to Timothy Limpet, a hairy troll who lives far way, and likes to be tidy, unlike normal trolls who' live in damp, dark, squelchy caves and like to scare the heebie-jeebies out of anyone they can'.
Hodgkinson, Leigh: Troll Swap
Poor Marc gets the heebie-jeebies whenever he has the chance to win and it is that frailty and the generous quote that accompanies it that makes him a golfer that FP bettors can work with.
Captain can show the way
not to get the heebie-jeebies," said Christopher Rosen of the (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/28/final-master-trailer_n_1835820.html?utm_hp_ref=entertainment) Huffington Post .
Final Trailer For Paul Thomas Anderson's 'The Master' Released [Video]
If you caught the thriller of the year Contagion in the cinema, you've probably just about got over the heebie-jeebies it gave you enough to watch it again.
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