"grasp the nettle" meaning in English

{
  "etymology_text": "From the short-term skin irritation caused by the stinging nettle.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "grasps the nettle",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "grasping the nettle",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "grasped the nettle",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "grasped the nettle",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "*"
      },
      "expansion": "grasp the nettle (third-person singular simple present grasps the nettle, present participle grasping the nettle, simple past and past participle grasped the nettle)",
      "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"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English predicates",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1886 February 22, “London's Recent Rioting”, in New York Times, retrieved 2010-08-18, page 5:",
          "text": "Hence it was that a few dozen policemen, resolutely grasping the nettle, had no difficulty in handling it.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1951 April 30, “From Today's Times”, in Ottawa Citizen, Canada, retrieved 2010-08-18, page 2:",
          "text": "President Truman, when at last he grasped the nettle and dismissed MacArthur, knew well enough the outcry that would follow.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2007 May 24, “Brown's Britain: taking the nuclear option”, in telegraph.co.uk, retrieved 2010-08-18:",
          "text": "That Tony Blair should wait until the dying days of his premiership before grasping the nettle of nuclear expansion has proved dangerously neglectful.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2020 May 6, Stefanie Foster, “Comment: One chance for a new order”, in Rail, page 3:",
          "text": "We must be bold. We must grasp the nettle and make the most of this opportunity.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To act boldly, especially when there are short-term adverse consequences."
      ],
      "id": "en-grasp_the_nettle-en-verb-Xj1uV1vZ",
      "links": [
        [
          "bold",
          "bold"
        ],
        [
          "adverse",
          "adverse"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) To act boldly, especially when there are short-term adverse consequences."
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "word": "nettlesome"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "en-au-grasp the nettle.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/d/da/En-au-grasp_the_nettle.ogg/En-au-grasp_the_nettle.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/da/En-au-grasp_the_nettle.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "word": "grasp the nettle"
}

{
  "etymology_text": "From the short-term skin irritation caused by the stinging nettle.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "grasps the nettle",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "grasping the nettle",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "grasped the nettle",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "grasped the nettle",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "*"
      },
      "expansion": "grasp the nettle (third-person singular simple present grasps the nettle, present participle grasping the nettle, simple past and past participle grasped the nettle)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "nettlesome"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English idioms",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English predicates",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English verbs",
        "Pages with 1 entry",
        "Pages with entries"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1886 February 22, “London's Recent Rioting”, in New York Times, retrieved 2010-08-18, page 5:",
          "text": "Hence it was that a few dozen policemen, resolutely grasping the nettle, had no difficulty in handling it.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1951 April 30, “From Today's Times”, in Ottawa Citizen, Canada, retrieved 2010-08-18, page 2:",
          "text": "President Truman, when at last he grasped the nettle and dismissed MacArthur, knew well enough the outcry that would follow.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2007 May 24, “Brown's Britain: taking the nuclear option”, in telegraph.co.uk, retrieved 2010-08-18:",
          "text": "That Tony Blair should wait until the dying days of his premiership before grasping the nettle of nuclear expansion has proved dangerously neglectful.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2020 May 6, Stefanie Foster, “Comment: One chance for a new order”, in Rail, page 3:",
          "text": "We must be bold. We must grasp the nettle and make the most of this opportunity.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To act boldly, especially when there are short-term adverse consequences."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "bold",
          "bold"
        ],
        [
          "adverse",
          "adverse"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) To act boldly, especially when there are short-term adverse consequences."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "en-au-grasp the nettle.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/d/da/En-au-grasp_the_nettle.ogg/En-au-grasp_the_nettle.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/da/En-au-grasp_the_nettle.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "word": "grasp the nettle"
}