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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 nearby mettle
Metsys, Metternich, Metternich, Prince Clemens von, metteur en scène, Mettie, mettle, mettled, mettlesome, Metuchen, Metz, meu
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
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