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Synonyms
mettle
- 4 dictionary resultsmet⋅tle
[met-l] 
l
–noun
—Idiom| 1. | courage and fortitude: a man of mettle. |
| 2. | disposition or temperament: a man of fine mettle. |
| 3. | on one's mettle, in the position of being incited to do one's best The loss of the first round put him on his mettle to win the match. |
Synonyms:
1. valor, pluck, vigor, ardor, nerve, fiber.
1. valor, pluck, vigor, ardor, nerve, fiber.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Link To mettle
| met·tle (mět'l) n.
[Variant of metal.] |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Mettle
Met"tle\, n. [E. metal, used in a tropical sense in allusion to the temper of the metal of a sword blade. See Metal.] Substance or quality of temperament; spirit, esp. as regards honor, courage, fortitude, ardor, etc.; disposition; -- usually in a good sense. A certain critical hour which shall . . . try what mettle his heart is made of. --South. Gentlemen of brave mettle. --Shak. The winged courser, like a generous horse, Shows most true mettle when you check his course. --Pope. To put one one's mettle, to cause or incite one to use one's best efforts.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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mettle
1581, variant spelling of metal, both of which were used interchangeably (by Shakespeare and others) in the literal sense and in the figurative sense of "stuff of which a person is made" until the spellings and senses diverged early 18c.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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