# bottle it

> English word · Verb

## Definitions
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.

## 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.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/bottle-it