{
  "id": "cold-feet.threshold",
  "term": "cold feet",
  "sense": "threshold",
  "pos": "verb",
  "status": "review",
  "level": 20,
  "domain": "bonds and their maintenance",
  "style": "folk",
  "definition": "the parameter of willingness within a coupling drifts toward its lower wall so that the maintenance required to keep the coupling inside its window exceeds the available energy capacity, causing hesitation",
  "folk_gloss": "to feel nervous and hesitate before committing to something",
  "emergence": {
    "components": [
      "parameter.condition",
      "drift.aimless",
      "wall.range-end",
      "window.range",
      "maintenance.upkeep",
      "energy.capacity",
      "coupling.connection"
    ],
    "interaction": "as the willingness parameter drifts toward its wall, the upkeep needed to stay within the window grows beyond the energy capacity",
    "novel_properties": [
      "insufficient maintenance margin"
    ]
  },
  "examples": [],
  "relations": [],
  "used_by": [],
  "forms": [
    "cold feet"
  ],
  "closed": false,
  "provenance": {
    "author": "phrases:openai/gpt-oss-120b",
    "date": "2026-07-29",
    "confidence": 0.7,
    "sources": [
      "folk phrase — bonds and their maintenance"
    ]
  },
  "canonical": "https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-cold-feet.threshold"
}