- Home
- Idioms
- jeebies
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 |
AnnamÁRia | | - | Hungarian |
Volodimeru | | - | Medieval Slavic |
Paris (1) | | PER-is (English), PAR-is (English) | Greek Mythology |
Callista | | kə-LIS-tə | English (Rare) |
Meg | | MEG | English |
Casper | | KAHS-pər (Dutch) | Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish |