[vur-choo] 
| 1. | moral excellence; goodness; righteousness. |
| 2. | conformity of one's life and conduct to moral and ethical principles; uprightness; rectitude. |
| 3. | chastity; virginity: to lose one's virtue. |
| 4. | a particular moral excellence. Compare cardinal virtues, natural virtue, theological virtue. |
| 5. | a good or admirable quality or property: the virtue of knowing one's weaknesses. |
| 6. | effective force; power or potency: a charm with the virtue of removing warts. |
| 7. | virtues, an order of angels. Compare angel (def. 1). |
| 8. | manly excellence; valor. |
| 9. | by or in virtue of, by reason of; because of: to act by virtue of one's legitimate authority. |
| 10. | make a virtue of necessity, to make the best of a difficult or unsatisfactory situation. |
make a virtue of necessity
Do the best one can under given circumstances, as in Since he can't break the contract, Bill's making a virtue of necessity. This expression first appeared in English in Chaucer's The Knight's Tale: "Then is it wisdom, as it thinketh me, to make virtue of necessity." Also see make the best of.