flop sweat
nounEtymology From flop + sweat.
1
Slang, Usually Sweat due to nervousness, especially fear of failure.
- Billy Vine, covered with flop sweat, started so-so, but in a few minutes he had them.15 March 1947, Bill Smith, "Night Club Reviews", Billboard page 36
2
Slang, Usually Panic or anxiety about possible failure.
- This is the point very often where panic sets in. In theatre jargon, we call it "flop sweat."1979, Ken Waissman, Maxine Fox, “Broadway: A sound heard around the world”, in Beyond Media, →ISBN, page 264: