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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.
give somebody the heebie-jeebies
(informal) to make someone feel anxious or frightened Walking across the park after dark gives me the heebie-jeebies.
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
verbheebie-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 . . .”
Common Names:
Name | Gender | Pronounced | Usage |
Steenie | | - | Scottish |
KajetÁN | | - | Czech, Slovak, Hungarian |
Alexus | | ə-LEK-səs | English (Modern) |
Naheed | | - | Persian |
Neha | | - | Indian, Hindi, Marathi, Malayalam, Kannada, Punjabi, Gujarati, Bengali, Telugu |
Nuria | | - | Spanish |