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bell the cat love

bell the cat

Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb idiomatic To undertake a dangerous action in the service of a group.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb take a risk; perform a daring act

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From a mediaeval fable in which mice want to put a bell round the cat's neck but cannot agree who should do it.

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Examples

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synonyms (27)

Words with the same meaning

  1. affront
  2. beard
  3. bite the bullet
  4. brave
  5. brazen
  6. brazen out
  7. confront
  8. court danger
  9. defy danger
  10. face
  11. face the music
  12. face up
  13. face up to
  14. flirt with death
  15. front
  16. go for broke
  17. meet
  18. meet boldly
  19. meet head-on
  20. play Russian roulette
  21. play with fire
  22. run the gauntlet
  23. set at defiance
  24. speak out
  25. speak up
  26. stand up to
  27. tempt Providence

hypernyms (3)

Words that are more generic or abstract

  1. lay on the line
  2. put on the line
  3. risk

cross-references (1)

Cross-references

  1. take one for the team

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