to not do something because you are frightened; to fail at something because you are frightened

He should have taken the penalty but he bottled it. 他本来应该罚点球的，可是退缩了。

Walker should have been sent off for that but the referee bottled it.

Under pressure, they bottled it.

I was going to tell him what I thought of his plan but I bottled it.

She denied that her team had bottled it.

See also: bottle verb