/hee"bee jee"beez/ , n. ( used with a pl. v. ) Slang.
a condition of extreme nervousness caused by fear, worry, strain, etc.; the jitters; the willies (usually prec. by the ): Just thinking about ghosts gives me the heebie-jeebies.
[ 1905-10, Amer.; rhyming compound coined by W. De Beck (1890-1942), American comic-strip cartoonist ]