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bottle out

UK slang phrasal verb with bottle
 
/ˈbɒt.l̩/
 
US  /ˈbɑː.t̬l̩/ verb [T]

Definition

to suddenly decide not to do something because you feel frightened and lose your confidence: I was going to enter a belly-dancing contest, but I bottled out at the last minute.Avoiding actionLaziness and lazy peopleCowardlyAfraid
(Definition of bottle out from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

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