Fig.: to lose courage and withdraw from a planned action

Charles joined a parachuting group, but on the first jump he turned chicken and just couldn't do it

Carlo si era iscritto ad un club di paracadutismo, ma al primo lancio si è fatto prendere dalla tremarella e non è riuscito a lanciarsi

Mrs. Brown withdrew from the stock market because she got cold feet after being asked by her brokers to cover potential losses

La sig. ra Rossi ha rinunciato ad investire in borsa perché ha preso paura quando i suoi brokers le hanno detto che doveva essere pronta a coprire eventuali perdite

Little Richard said he could go inside the ghost house any time he wanted, but when his friends asked him to meet there at midnight, he got cold feet and said his mother wouldn't allow him to go out at that time of the night

Riccardino diceva che poteva entrare nella casa degli spiriti come e quando voleva, ma quando i suoi amici gli hanno chiesto di incontrarsi là a mezzanotte, si è fatto prendere dalla tremarella e si è tirato indietro dicendo che sua mamma non lo avrebbe mai lasciato uscire a quell'ora

Of the many hypotheses about this phrase origin, the most likely seems to be the fact that in rural Europe a person with little money - hence unwilling to move towards a purchase - was often described as having cold feet. In the same way, a gambler wanting out of game could let it be known that he was dead broke by saying that his feet were cold. It may also have begun as soldier's slang, from the response of some unenthusiastic private who, told to stand up and charge the enemy, tried to beg off on the ground that his feet were frozen