| diom | Meaning | Example Sentence |
| Bite one’s nails | Exhibit nervousness or anxiety by biting nails. | She always bites her nails when she’s feeling scared or stressed. |
| Hairs standing on end | Feeling extremely frightened or shocked. | The sudden ghostly figure left her with her hairs standing on end. |
| Have one’s heart in one’s mouth | Be extremely anxious or fearful. | When he saw his car sliding on the icy road, his heart was in his mouth. |
| Heart in one’s throat | Having one’s heart rate increase due to fear or | As the roller coaster plummeted, his heart was in his throat. |
| In a cold sweat | Being anxious or frightened to the point of | The thought of the upcoming exam had him in a cold sweat all night. |
| Jump out of one’s skin | Startle severely or be extremely surprised. | The loud crash made him jump out of his skin. |
| Scared out of one’s wits | Extremely frightened. | The sudden loud noise scared her out of her wits. |
| Scaredy-cat | Someone who is easily scared or timid. | He’s such a scaredy-cat; he won’t even go near a spider. |
| Shake like a leaf | Tremble or shake due to fear or nervousness. | He was shaking like a leaf before his first public speaking event. |
| White as a sheet | Extremely pale due to fear or shock. | After the horror movie, she was as white as a sheet. |
| breaking out in a sweat. |
