habdabs slang.
(ˈhæbdæbz)
Also abdabs.
[Orig. obscure.]
Nervous anxiety, the heebie-jeebies, esp. in phr. to give (a person) the screaming habdabs.
| 1946 Penguin New Writing XXVIII. 177 Come on, kid. This joint gives me the hab-dabs. 1962 Spectator 8 June 761/3 Treasure Island gives pleasure and excitement to some and the screaming habdabs to others. 1963 Ibid. 19 July 72 A desperate tension which the slightest crisis will transform into the screaming abdabs once more. 1966 L. Davidson Long Way to Shiloh ii. 28 Uri's whimsy-shrouded secrecy, strenuously maintained throughout the journey, had already brought on a severe attack of the habdabs. |