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mettle

[ met-l ]
/ ˈmɛt l /
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noun
courage and fortitude: a man of mettle.
disposition or temperament: a man of fine mettle.
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Idioms about mettle

    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.

Origin of mettle

1575–85; spelling variant of metal, in metaphoric usages

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH mettle

medal, meddle, metal, mettle
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use mettle in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for mettle

mettle
/ (ˈmɛtəl) /

noun
courage; spirit
inherent character
on one's mettle roused to putting forth one's best efforts

Word Origin for mettle

C16: originally variant spelling of metal
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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