chicken-out

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US /ˈtʃɪk.ɪn/ 
UK /ˈtʃɪk.ɪn/ 

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English

chicken out

chicken out phrasal verb informal (see also ↑chicken)
to decide at the last moment not to do something you said you would do, because you are afraid:
You’re not chickening out, are you?

Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

chicken out (of something doing something)

ˌchicken ˈout (of sth/of doing sth) derived
(informal) to decide not to do sth because you are afraid
You're not going to chicken out, are you?

Kim put my name down for a sponsored parachute jump but I chickened out at the last moment.

Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary

Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary - 4th Edition
 

chicken out slang disapproving — phrasal verb with chicken / ˈtʃɪk.ɪn / verb

to decide not to do something because you are too frightened:

I was going to go bungee jumping, but I chickened out.

© Cambridge University Press 2013

Collins Advanced Learner’s English Dictionary

chicken out
If someone chickens out of something they were intending to do, they decide not to do it because they are afraid. (INFORMAL)
His mother complains that he makes excuses to chicken out of family occasions such as weddings...
I had never ridden on a motor-cycle before. But it was too late to chicken out.

PHRASAL VERB: V P of n, V P

Merriam-Webster's Advanced Learner's Dictionary

chicken

3chicken verb -ens; -ened; -en·ing
chicken out [phrasal verb] informal : to decide not to do something because you are afraid
• He was going to ask her on a date, but he chickened out at the last minute.