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gumption - 5 dictionary results

gump⋅tion

   [guhmp-shuhn]
–noun Informal.
1. initiative; aggressiveness; resourcefulness: With his gumption he'll make a success of himself.
2. courage; spunk; guts: It takes gumption to quit a high-paying job.
3. common sense; shrewdness.
Origin:
1710–20; orig. Scots
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
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gump·tion     (gŭmp'shən)  Pronunciation Key 
n.   Informal
  1. Boldness of enterprise; initiative or aggressiveness.
  2. Guts; spunk.
  3. Common sense.

[Scots.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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gumption 
1719, Scottish, "common sense, shrewdness," also "drive, initiative," possibly connected with M.E. gome "attention, heed," from O.N. gaumr "heed." Originally "common sense, shrewdness," sense of "initiative" is first recorded 1812.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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gumption

noun
1. sound practical judgment; "Common sense is not so common"; "he hasn't got the sense God gave little green apples"; "fortunately she had the good sense to run away" [syn: common sense] 
2. fortitude and determination; "he didn't have the guts to try it" [syn: backbone] 

WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
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Gumption

Gump"tion\, n. [OE. gom, gome, attention; akin to AS. ge['o]mian, gyman, to regard, observe, gyme care, OS. gomean to heed, Goth. gaumjan to see, notice.]

1. Capacity; shrewdness; common sense. [Colloq.]

One does not have gumption till one has been properly cheated. --Lord Lytton.

2. (Paint.) (a) The art of preparing colors. --Sir W. Scott. (b) Megilp. --Fairholt.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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