have the guts

1. Possess the courage, as in Does he have the guts to dive off the high board? This expression replaces the earlier and now obsolete sense of stomach as “courage,” a usage from the early 1500s. [Slang; late 1800s]

Example Sentences

The president is simply filling the one Congress created because it doesn’t have the guts to do its job or to be held accountable for it.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

He added, “Let’s be honest — you became a millionaire off of her pain. And now, you want to act like the mature one, like the man who held it all together? If you’re going to write a book, at least have the guts to tell the truth about your part in it.”

Read more on Salon

“They have to have the guts to put their stars on the table.”

Read more on Los Angeles Times

He added: "And if they do not have the guts to criticise America, they should keep silent, not try to justify the aggression."

Read more on BBC

"Every time you get your heart broken you have to bounce back and it makes for a better story – but you have to have the guts to keep going after it," Rotella added.

Read more on BBC