the courage to carry on; " he kept fighting on pure spunk"; " you haven't got the heart for baseball"

Substance or quality of temperament; spirit, esp. as regards honor, courage, fortitude, ardor, etc.; disposition; - usually in a good sense.

Ardor or spirit, especially as regards honor, etc.; disposition; courage.

Ardor or keenness of temperament: spirit: sprightliness: courage.

Mettled, mettlesome.

The stuff of which a thing is composed; temperament; disposition.

Stuff; spirit; constitutional ardour.

Natural ardour; spirit; sprightliness; courage; warmth of temperament; substance.

As for Jimmy, he had long ceased to make any audible comment, but internally he was saying to himself: " man of strong mettle indeed!" – Baby Mine by Margaret Mayo

They had now been in the woods for weeks and every day in some way had Joe showed his mettle – The Spirit of the Border A Romance of the Early Settlers in the Ohio Valley by Zane Grey

Then with a start, as one who throws off preoccupation and puts energy again upon its mettle she broke into a rapid and decisive walk. – New-Arabian-Nights by Stevenson, Robert Louis

One with less mettle would have given it up. – The Crisis, Complete by Winston Churchill Last Updated: March 6, 2009

There is little doubt that Abraham Lincoln's mettle was tempered to the finest quality in the fires of the great struggle from 1860 to 1865, when every hour of his waking days was fraught with the greatest responsibility. – Rural Life and the Rural School by Joseph Kennedy

If we cannot find them at home, we sally abroad and create them, just to warm up our mettle – Little Rivers A Book Of Essays In Profitable Idleness by Henry van Dyke

167.- L. and B. J. My Lord of Sedan, who was a prudent man and a merry talker, had the good father to eat at his table, and in order to put him on his mettle said to him, among other things- " Good father, you do well to make your collection while you are yet unknown. – The Tales Of The Heptameron, Vol. IV. (of V.) by Margaret, Queen Of Navarre

For being thus put on my mettle I determined to do whatever he did. – Paddy Finn by W. H. G. Kingston

He is put very much on his mettle not to lose what he has gained. – The Adventure of Living by John St. Loe Strachey

For with the election of Thord to the dignity of a Deputy, had, of course, come the necessity of resigning his old quarters where his 'Revolutionary' meetings had been held,- and he now resided in a more 'respectable' quarter of the city, in such sober, yet distinctive fashion as became one who was a friend of the King's, and who was likely to be a Minister some day, when he had further proved his political mettle – Temporal Power by Marie Corelli

There ain't a better cook than I anywhere when I'm put on my mettle – Girls of the Forest by L. T. Meade

This put us on our mettle and the desert was carefully watched without success on our part, but a neighbouring unit was able to report a submarine moving north across Sabkhet Bardawil. – The Fifth Battalion Highland Light Infantry in the War 1914-1918 by F.L. Morrison

From this day forth he was determined to show himself to be a man of strong mettle – Baby Mine by Margaret Mayo

It was clearly a case that called for the utmost activity on the part of the representatives of the law; the Bunbury police force was on its mettle and the fussy Mr. Doutfire became in a moment the incarnation of bustling importance. – A Poached Peerage by William Magnay

Aye, said he, when Sir James had done, the boy hath mettle sure. – Men of Iron by Ernie Howard Pyle

Lola was excited and on her mettle – The Rustle of Silk by Cosmo Hamilton

The situation put him on his mettle – Black Oxen by Gertrude Franklin Horn Atherton

They were on their mettle and they meant to show the young Shawanoe that they were capable of doing much more than he seemed to believe. – The Hunters of the Ozark by Edward S. Ellis

He gathered all his strength, his good English mettle and nerve, and grappled with a grip of steel. – The Mountain Girl by Payne Erskine

Then the old coachman- who was not without mettle and was on it, for the moment- took off his coat and tried again. – A Bride from the Bush by E. W. (Ernest William) Hornung