ZebraWords.com - The Definition of 'Mettle', Synonyms of 'Mettle' & More on 'Mettle'

1. WordNet® 3.0 (2006)

mettle
    n 1: the courage to carry on; "he kept fighting on pure spunk";
         "you haven't got the heart for baseball" [syn: heart,
         mettle, nerve, spunk]

2. The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

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; as, to test a person's mettle.
   [1913 Webster]

         A certain critical hour which shall . . . try what
         mettle his heart is made of.             --South.
   [1913 Webster]

         Gentlemen of brave mettle.               --Shak.
   [1913 Webster]

         The winged courser, like a generous horse,
         Shows most true mettle when you check his course.
                                                  --Pope.
   [1913 Webster]

   To put one one's mettle, to cause or incite one to use
      one's best efforts.
      [1913 Webster]

Thesaurus Results for Mettle:

1. Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0

activity, animation, animus, aptitude, ardor, backbone, bent, bias, bottom, brio, briskness, cast, character, chutzpah, constitution, courage, dauntlessness, diathesis, disposition, eccentricity, elan, enthusiasm, gameness, glow, grain, grit, gusto, guts, gutsiness, guttiness, heart, heart of oak, idiosyncrasy, impetuosity, impetus, inclination, individualism, intestinal fortitude, joie de vivre, kidney, leaning, life, liveliness, lustiness, make, makeup, mental set, mettlesomeness, mind, mind-set, mold, moxie, nature, nerve, perkiness, pertness, pith, pluck, pluckiness, predilection, predisposition, preference, proclivity, propensity, resolution, robustness, set, slant, spirit, spiritedness, spunk, spunkiness, stamina, stamp, stout heart, strain, streak, stripe, temper, temperament, tendency, toughness, true grit, turn, turn of mind, twist, type, vivacity, warmth, warp, zest, zestfulness

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