mettled en · ADJ
Etymology
From mettle + -ed.
Meanings
-
(archaic) Having mettle; pithy, spirited
The mettled ſteeds, when from their noſtrils flows / The ſcorching fire, that in their entrails glows.
a. 1720 (date written), Joseph Addison, The Works of the Right Honourable Joseph Addison, Esq; […], volume I, London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], published 1721, →OCLC, page 154:She looked, and saw one of the most graceful cavaliers that ever reined in a mettled horse.
1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XV, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume III, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 123:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| most mettled | Degree=Sup | lexicographic | |
| more mettled | Degree=Cmp | lexicographic |