Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun plural Informal Pain in the stomach or bowels.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun informal Anxiety, fear

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun severe gastroenteritis of unknown etiology; characterized by severe colic and vomiting and diarrhea

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Probably alteration (influenced by colic and wobble) of cholera morbus.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Attested 1823, presumably from colic + wobble. Alternative theories are that it derives from colly ("coal dust"), via the putative sense “ill from breathing coal dust,” or that it is a corruption of cholera. The first attestation (a mention, not a usage) is in the 1823 edition of A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

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Examples

  • No, having "collywobbles" does not mean you're addicted to cauliflower, and don't bother buying a bra if you're a "titulaire."

    Planet Rugby News - Rugby Union News 2009

  • In New Zealand, if you've got "collywobbles" before a big game, you:

    Planet Rugby News - Rugby Union News 2009

  • Nineties collywobbles are one thing, fifties and sixties somewhat different. 15 fifties, Duncan, and two centuries.

    The Ashes 2010: Australia v England – day three live! | Andy Bull and Rob Smyth 2010

  • Here's Iran, causing collywobbles wherever summits convene; here's Iraq, a profoundly unsettled state; and Nato's Afghanistan, a disaster without end.

    A return to old Europe 2010

  • It gave the professor, who was, as we have already established, not an imaginative man, a distinct case of the collywobbles.

    The Gates John Connolly 2009

  • There was some kind of psionic field which did not register on McCoy's scanners, but gave him the personal collywobbles.

    TRIANGLE SONDRA MARSHAK 2009

  • VIEW FAVORITES yahooBuzzArticleHeadline = 'The tanks on Satmasjid Road in Dhaka, Bangladesh'; yahooBuzzArticleSummary = 'The tanks seem to have given the mutineers the collywobbles: they finally handed in their weapons and gave in.'

    OpEdNews - Quicklink: The tanks on Satmasjid Road in Dhaka, Bangladesh 2009

  • It gave the professor, who was, as we have already established, not an imaginative man, a distinct case of the collywobbles.

    The Gates John Connolly 2009

  • The tanks seem to have given the mutineers the collywobbles: they finally handed in their weapons and gave in.

    OpEdNews - Quicklink: The tanks on Satmasjid Road in Dhaka, Bangladesh 2009

  • There was some kind of psionic field which did not register on McCoy's scanners, but gave him the personal collywobbles.

    TRIANGLE SONDRA MARSHAK 2009

Comments

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  • A feeling of unease of dread. See also: willies, heebie-jeebies.

    September 23, 2007

  • Around here, that feeling is also called "the creeps." :-)

    September 23, 2007

  • I feel a list coming on...

    September 23, 2007