have butterflies in one's stomach

English

Pronunciation

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Verb

have butterflies in one's stomach (third-person singular simple present has butterflies in his/her stomach, present participle having butterflies in one's stomach, simple past and past participle had butterflies in one's stomach)

1. To experience a certain “fluttery” physical sensation in the abdomen, associated with nervousness, uncertainty, or anxiety. Often associated with love.

   Kevin had butterflies in his stomach every time he saw Chrissy.

2. (idiomatic) To be nervous, uncertain, or anxious.

   He had butterflies in his stomach on the morning of his wedding.

   Synonym: have the collywobbles

Translations

be nervous

• Catalan: tenir papallones a la panxa
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 忐忑不安 (zh) (tǎntèbù'ān), 七上八下 (zh) (qīshàngbāxià), (lovestruck) 小鹿亂撞／小鹿乱撞 (xiǎolùluànzhuàng), 小鹿乱撞 (xiǎolùluànzhuàng)

• Danish: have sommerfugle i maven
• Dutch: vlinders in de buik hebben
• Finnish: olla perhosia vatsassa, olla jännityksen poikanen vatsassa
• French: être nerveux
• German: Schmetterlinge im Bauch haben (de)
• Hungarian: a torkában dobog a szíve, ideges (hu), izgul (hu), aggódik (hu)
• Italian: avere le farfalle nello stomaco
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Japanese: 胃がきりきりする (いがきりきりする, i ga kiri-kiri suru)
• Norwegian: ha sommerfugler i magen (no)
• Portuguese: ter (um) frio na barriga, estar com (um) frio na barriga
• Russian: име́ть мандра́ж impf (imétʹ mandráž)
• Spanish: tener mariposas en el estómago
• Swedish: ha fjärilar i magen (sv)
• Turkish: diken üstünde oturmak (tr)
• Ukrainian: відчувати хвилювання (vidčuvaty xvyljuvannja)