cabin fever

Idioms & Phrases

cabin fever

Distress or anxiety caused by prolonged confinement in a small or remote place, as in We've been snowed in for a week and everyone has cabin fever. Originating in the West, this term at first alluded to being penned up in a remote cabin during a long winter but has since been applied more broadly. [Late 1800s]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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