English Explanatory Dictionary

bottle it

English dictionary entry

Meanings

verb
  1. To suppress an action or expression, especially when due to lack of courage.
  2. To lose one's nerve.
  3. To run away, especially when due to lack of courage.
  4. To fail in an embarrassing way in a crucial situation, especially due to nerves.

Word forms

bottle it bottles it bottling it bottled it

Etymology

From Cockney rhyming slang bottle and glass, originally meaning arse. lose one's nerve was vulgarly lose one's arse, euphemised to lose one's bottle, clipped to bottle and subsequently given a dummy pronoun. See bottle.

Related words

bottle out
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