grasp the nettle
Verb
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Verb
- (idiomatic) To act boldly, especially when there are short-term adverse consequences.
- 1886, "[https://web.archive.org/web/20160306195134/http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?_r=1&res=9407E3DE1E38E033A25751C2A9649C94679FD7CF London's Recent Rioting]," New York Times, 22 Feb., p. 5 (retrieved 18 Aug. 2010):
- Hence it was that a few dozen policemen, resolutely grasping the nettle, had no difficulty in handling it.
- 1951, "[http://news.google.ca/newspapers?id=tngvAAAAIBAJ&sjid=ltwFAAAAIBAJ&pg=7370,5778905&dq=grasped-the-nettle&hl=en From Today's Times]," Ottawa Citizen (Canada), 30 April, p. 2 (retrieved 18 Aug. 2010):
- President Truman, when at last he grasped the nettle and dismissed MacArthur, knew well enough the outcry that would follow.
- 2007, "Brown's Britain: taking the nuclear option ↗," telegraph.co.uk, 24 May (retrieved 18 Aug. 2010):
- That Tony Blair should wait until the dying days of his premiership before grasping the nettle of nuclear expansion has proved dangerously neglectful.
- 1886, "[https://web.archive.org/web/20160306195134/http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?_r=1&res=9407E3DE1E38E033A25751C2A9649C94679FD7CF London's Recent Rioting]," New York Times, 22 Feb., p. 5 (retrieved 18 Aug. 2010):
This text is extracted from the Wiktionary and it is available under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license | Terms and conditions | Privacy policy 0.002