Alphabet:
[m_ˈɛ_t_əl], [mˈɛtə͡l], [mˈɛtə‍l]

Definitions of mettle

  1.   Substance or quality of temperament; spirit, esp. as regards honor, courage, fortitude, ardor, etc.; disposition; - usually in a good sense.
  2.   Ardor or spirit, especially as regards honor, etc.; disposition; courage.
  3.   the courage to carry on; " he kept fighting on pure spunk"; " you haven't got the heart for baseball"
  4.   Mettled, mettlesome.
  5.   The stuff of which a thing is composed; temperament; disposition.
  6.   Stuff; spirit; constitutional ardour.
  7.   Ardor or keenness of temperament: spirit: sprightliness: courage.
  8.   Natural ardour; spirit; sprightliness; courage; warmth of temperament; substance.

Antonyms for mettle

poltroonery, frailness, timorousness, spinelessness, cowardliness, frailty, cowardice, cravenness, softness, faintheartedness, wishy-washiness, pusillanimity, timidness, weakness, timidity, wimpiness, dastardliness, wimpishness, gutlessness.

Quotes of mettle

  1. You who live your lives in cities or among peaceful ways cannot always tell whether your friends are the kind who would go through fire for you. But on the Plains one's friends have an opportunity to prove their mettle – Buffalo Bill
  2. To busy oneself with what is futile when one can do something useful, to attend to what is simple when one has the mettle to attempt what is difficult, is to strip talent of its dignity. – Jose Marti

Usage examples for mettle

  1. “ From this day forth he was determined to show himself to be a man of strong mettle ” – Baby Mine by Margaret Mayo
  2. “ 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
  3. “ 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
  4. “ He gathered all his strength, his good English mettle and nerve, and grappled with a grip of steel. ” – The Mountain Girl by Payne Erskine
  5. “ 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
  6. “ For being thus put on my mettle I determined to do whatever he did. ” – Paddy Finn by W. H. G. Kingston
  7. “ The situation put him on his mettle ” – Black Oxen by Gertrude Franklin Horn Atherton
  8. “ He is put very much on his mettle not to lose what he has gained. ” – The Adventure of Living by John St. Loe Strachey
  9. “ One with less mettle would have given it up. ” – The Crisis, Complete by Winston Churchill Last Updated: March 6, 2009
  10. “ There ain't a better cook than I anywhere when I'm put on my mettle ” – Girls of the Forest by L. T. Meade
  11. “ Aye, said he, when Sir James had done, the boy hath mettle sure. ” – Men of Iron by Ernie Howard Pyle
  12. “ 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
  13. “ 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
  14. “ 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
  15. “ 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
  16. “ 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
  17. “ 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
  18. “ 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
  19. “ Lola was excited and on her mettle ” – The Rustle of Silk by Cosmo Hamilton
  20. “ 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

Rhymes for mettle

Idioms for mettle