got the wind up

Verb

get the wind up (third-person singular simple present gets the wind up, present participle getting the wind up, simple past got the wind up, past participle got the wind up or gotten the wind up)

1. (UK, idiomatic) To become frightened or disturbed.
   • Mustn't answer the door, mustn't touch the telephone, mustn't stir out of the house—I ask you now, George, what's likely to be the end of this sort of thing when her people get the wind up?1934, Ernest Bramah, The Bravo of London