screw up one's courage
Summon inner strength
To screw up one's courage is to summon determination or nerve before doing something difficult or frightening.
The phrase suggests gathering resolve as if tightening something loose: She screwed up her courage and knocked on the door.
The expression derives from Shakespeare's Macbeth, where Lady Macbeth urges her husband to "screw your courage to the sticking place."
- musterAssemble for inspection
- summonCall to appear
- braveryBoldness before danger
- resolveFirmness of purpose
- steel oneselfPrepare for difficulty
dig deep · embolden · confront · moment of truth · leap of faith · buck up · fortitude · gather · gather one's wits · take a deep breath · take heart · grit · fearlessness · determination · boldness · adversity · self-confidence · find one's voice
screw up one's couragelose one's nerve
Abandon courage under pressure
chicken out · back down · flee · panic · run away
screw up one's couragefall apart
Break into pieces
crumble · go to pieces · break down · unravel · lose one's head
screw, screws, screwed, screwing, screwdriver, courage, courageous, courageously, encourage