"flesh one's maiden sword" meaning in All languages combined

See flesh one's maiden sword on Wiktionary

Verb [English]

Forms: fleshes one's maiden sword [present, singular, third-person], fleshing one's maiden sword [participle, present], fleshed one's maiden sword [participle, past], fleshed one's maiden sword [past]
Etymology: Literally, to shed blood for the first time with a new sword; see flesh (“bury in flesh”), maiden (“virgin”), sword. Etymology templates: {{m|en|flesh||bury in flesh}} flesh (“bury in flesh”), {{m|en|maiden||virgin}} maiden (“virgin”), {{m|en|sword}} sword Head templates: {{en-verb|*}} flesh one's maiden sword (third-person singular simple present fleshes one's maiden sword, present participle fleshing one's maiden sword, simple past and past participle fleshed one's maiden sword)
  1. (idiomatic, dated) To experience or succeed in combat or struggle for the first time, as in the military or in politics. Tags: dated, idiomatic Related terms: first blood
    Sense id: en-flesh_one's_maiden_sword-en-verb-QIsMqY-7 Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header

Download JSON data for flesh one's maiden sword meaning in All languages combined (2.6kB)

{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "flesh",
        "3": "",
        "4": "bury in flesh"
      },
      "expansion": "flesh (“bury in flesh”)",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "maiden",
        "3": "",
        "4": "virgin"
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        "1": "en",
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      "expansion": "sword",
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  ],
  "etymology_text": "Literally, to shed blood for the first time with a new sword; see flesh (“bury in flesh”), maiden (“virgin”), sword.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "fleshes one's maiden sword",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
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    },
    {
      "form": "fleshing one's maiden sword",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "fleshed one's maiden sword",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "fleshed one's maiden sword",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "*"
      },
      "expansion": "flesh one's maiden sword (third-person singular simple present fleshes one's maiden sword, present participle fleshing one's maiden sword, simple past and past participle fleshed one's maiden sword)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1831, “Speakers and Speeches in Parliament, No. IV”, in The New Monthly Magazine and Literary Journal, volume 31, page 222",
          "text": "Well, Lord Althorpe has last night fleshed his maiden sword as a finance minister—and the result, I am sorry to say, is a failure.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1869 July 22, William Fox, New Zealand. Parliamentary Debates: Fourth Session of the Fourth Parliament. Legislative Council and House of Representatives, volume 6, published 1869, page 79",
          "text": "Day after day, and year after year, we have heard the Native question discussed in an intelligible and statesmanlike manner, when the subject was brought forward in a practicable form, but not when presented in the style of a young member of a debating society endeavouring to “flesh his maiden sword.”",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To experience or succeed in combat or struggle for the first time, as in the military or in politics."
      ],
      "id": "en-flesh_one's_maiden_sword-en-verb-QIsMqY-7",
      "links": [
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      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic, dated) To experience or succeed in combat or struggle for the first time, as in the military or in politics."
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "word": "first blood"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "dated",
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "flesh one's maiden sword"
}
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  "etymology_text": "Literally, to shed blood for the first time with a new sword; see flesh (“bury in flesh”), maiden (“virgin”), sword.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "fleshes one's maiden sword",
      "tags": [
        "present",
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        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "fleshing one's maiden sword",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "fleshed one's maiden sword",
      "tags": [
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    },
    {
      "form": "fleshed one's maiden sword",
      "tags": [
        "past"
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  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "*"
      },
      "expansion": "flesh one's maiden sword (third-person singular simple present fleshes one's maiden sword, present participle fleshing one's maiden sword, simple past and past participle fleshed one's maiden sword)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "first blood"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
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        "English entries with incorrect language header",
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        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
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        "English verbs"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1831, “Speakers and Speeches in Parliament, No. IV”, in The New Monthly Magazine and Literary Journal, volume 31, page 222",
          "text": "Well, Lord Althorpe has last night fleshed his maiden sword as a finance minister—and the result, I am sorry to say, is a failure.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1869 July 22, William Fox, New Zealand. Parliamentary Debates: Fourth Session of the Fourth Parliament. Legislative Council and House of Representatives, volume 6, published 1869, page 79",
          "text": "Day after day, and year after year, we have heard the Native question discussed in an intelligible and statesmanlike manner, when the subject was brought forward in a practicable form, but not when presented in the style of a young member of a debating society endeavouring to “flesh his maiden sword.”",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To experience or succeed in combat or struggle for the first time, as in the military or in politics."
      ],
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      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic, dated) To experience or succeed in combat or struggle for the first time, as in the military or in politics."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "dated",
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "flesh one's maiden sword"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable All languages combined dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-05-06 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-05-02 using wiktextract (f4fd8c9 and c9440ce). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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