Heebie-jeebies - Wiktionary

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• 1 English Toggle English subsection
  • 1.1 Alternative forms
  • 1.2 Etymology
  • 1.3 Pronunciation
  • 1.4 Noun
    • 1.4.1 Usage notes
    • 1.4.2 Synonyms
    • 1.4.3 Translations
  • 1.5 See also

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• Discussion

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In other projects Appearance move to sidebar hide From Wiktionary, the free dictionary See also: heebiejeebies and heebie jeebies

English

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English Wikipedia has an article on:heebie-jeebiesWikipedia

Alternative forms

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• heebee-geebees, heebee geebees, heebeegeebees, heebygeebies, heebee-jeebees, heebee jeebees, heebeejeebees, heebie jeebies, heebiejeebies, heeby-jeebies, heeby jeebies, heebyjeebies, heeby-jeebys, heeby jeebys

Etymology

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The earliest found occurrences of spelling variants (it is not established whether the first one coined the term or committed to print an earlier oral expression):

• In 1923, the spelling "heeby jeebys" was used by U.S. cartoonist Billy De Beck in his comic strip Barney Google (New York American, 26 October 1923).
• In 1925, the spelling "heebee-jeebees" was used in U.S. magazine Ladies' Home Journal (Vol. 42, Part 2, p. 44).
• In 1926, the spelling "heebie jeebies" was used by U.S. singer Louis Armstrong for his single "Heebie Jeebies" (written by Boyd Atkins).
• In 1928, the spelling "heebee-geebees" was used in U.S. article "We All Have the Heebee-Geebees" by G. M. Keller of Swift & Company (Modern School Store, Vol. 11, p. 269 via Google Books).
• In 1956, the spelling "heeby jeebies" was used by U.S. singer Little Richard on the cover of his homonymous SP record (and the hyphenated spelling "heeby-jeebies" on its vinyl disc itself).

Pronunciation

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• IPA(key): /ˌhiː.biːˈdʒiː.biːz/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

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heebie-jeebies pl (plural only)

1. (informal) A general feeling of anxiety, fear, uneasiness, or nausea. I don't mind worms, but spiders give me the heebie-jeebies. When I see that weird house, I get the heebie-jeebies.

Usage notes

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• Most commonly used with the verbs "give" and "get" (as in the expressions "get the heebie-jeebies" and "give someone the heebie-jeebies").

Synonyms

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• creeps, willies, collywobbles
• See Thesaurus:fear

Translations

[edit] a general feeling of anxiety, fear, uneasiness, or nausea

German: Angstzustände (de) m pl, Gänsehaut (de) f Hungarian: frász (hu), ijedtség (hu), ijedség (hu), ijedelem (hu), rémület (hu), félelem (hu), szorongás (hu), libabőr (hu), borzongás (hu), hidegrázás (hu), borsódzik (tőle) a háta Polish: ciarki nvir Spanish: yuyu (es) (Childish), canguelo (es) (Andalusia)

See also

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• give someone the creeps
• give someone the willies

Retrieved from "https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=heebie-jeebies&oldid=87750534" Categories:

• English 4-syllable words
• English terms with IPA pronunciation
• English terms with audio pronunciation
• English lemmas
• English nouns
• English multiword terms
• English pluralia tantum
• English informal terms
• English terms with usage examples
• English reduplications
• en:Emotions

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