beard the lion

Idioms  

1. Confront a danger, take a risk, as in I went straight to my boss, bearding the lion. This term was originally a Latin proverb based on a Bible story (I Samuel 17:35) about the shepherd David, who pursued a lion that had stolen a lamb, caught it by its beard, and killed it. By Shakespeare's time it was being used figuratively, as it is today. Sometimes the term is amplified to beard the lion in his den, which may combine the allusion with another Bible story, that of Daniel being shut in a lions' den for the night (Daniel 6:16–24).

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Example Sentences

The topic courage, for instance, involved for him everything from audacity to spunk, Perseus to gamecock, to "beard the lion in his den."

From Time Magazine Archive

It would be excellent if James V. or the Irish would undertake to beard the lion in his den, but the Emperor did not see his way clear to accepting the risk himself.

From Henry VIII. by Pollard, A. F. (Albert Frederick)

Locke hoped to have the situation well in hand before he should find it necessary to beard the lion in all his fury.

From Lefty Locke Pitcher-Manager by Standish, Burt L.

He would beard the lion in its den, and try to convince this same poacher Jem that he had nothing to fear from a party of boys out on a holiday.

From Boy Scouts: Tenderfoot Squad or, Camping at Raccoon Lodge by Douglas, Alan

It seems they had heard of the Armour benevolence and decided to beard the lion in his den.

From Little Journeys to the Homes of the Great - Volume 11 Little Journeys to the Homes of Great Businessmen by Hubbard, Elbert