From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishcouragecour‧age /ˈkʌrɪdʒ $ ˈkɜːr-/ ●●○ noun [uncountable] 1 BRAVEthe quality of being brave when you are facing a difficult or dangerous situation, or when you are very ill → bravery OPP cowardice Sue showed great courage throughout her illness.courage to do something Gradually I lost the courage to speak out about anything. He did not have the courage to tell Nicola that he was ending their affair.summon/pluck up the courage (to do something) (=find the courage to do something) I plucked up the courage to go out by myself. Driving again after his accident must have taken a lot of courage (=needed courage).2 → have the courage of your (own) convictions → Dutch courageCOLLOCATIONSverbshave courageShe certainly has a lot of courage.show courageThe pilot showed great skill and courage.summon (up)/muster your courage (=make yourself feel brave)Summoning all her courage, she got up to see what the noise was.bolster your courage (=make it stronger)They sang and whistled as they marched, to bolster their courage.somebody’s courage fails (=is not great enough to do something)I was going to jump but my courage failed at the last moment.something gives you courage (=makes you feel that you have courage)My mother nodded, which gave me the courage to speak up.phraseshave the courage to do somethingI didn’t have the courage to say what I really thought.find the courage to do somethingYou must find the courage to deal with the problem.pluck up/screw up the courage to do something (=try to find it)He was trying to pluck up the courage to end their relationship.lack the courage to do somethingHe lacked the courage to look her full in the face.It takes courage to do something/sth takes courage (=needs courage)It takes courage to make a big change in your life like that.adjectivesgreat courageThe men had fought with great courage.enough/sufficient courageHarry plucked up enough courage to ask her out.personal courage (=the courage of one particular person)Her recovery owed a great deal to her personal courage.moral courage (=the courage to do the right thing)He said his faith gave him the moral courage to survive his ordeal.physical courage (=the courage to do something physically dangerous or difficult)It seemed strange that someone of great physical courage could be so unsure of himself in other ways.political courage (=the courage to take risks in politics)Do our politicians have the political courage to make unpopular decisions? THESAURUScourage the quality of being brave when you are facing a difficult or dangerous situation, or when you are very illthe courage of the soldiersShe showed great courage throughout her illness.He finally plucked up the courage (=found the courage) to ask her for a date.bravery courage in a dangerous or frightening situation, especially when you are fighting in a warHe won a medal for bravery during the Iraq war.guts informal the courage and determination to do something difficult or unpleasantIt must have taken a lot of guts for him to say that.heroism very great courage in a dangerous situationThe president praised the heroism of the firefighters.
Examples from the Corpus
courage• He is capable of cold-blooded or berserk courage in desperate moments yet is constantly afraid of being cowardly.• She showed great courage during her long illness.• Private Smith was recognized for her courage.• Her courage in the face of death is an example to us all.• Nelson Mandela will be remembered for his courage and integrity in the struggle against apartheid.• Service, under such appalling conditions, is testimony indeed to his courage.• Driving again after his accident must have taken a lot of courage.• In the face of such talent, not to say courage, how could I expose her?• This would take some courage but something inside her was urging her to be honest.• Tapping into that courage demands more than intellectual commitment and tough decision making.• If they lacked the courage to fight for themselves and for their good names, how could they fight for any-one else?• He was mustering up the courage to quit when Spider touched him on the shoulder.taken ... courage• But it would have taken more courage than I could muster.Origin courage (1200-1300) Old French corage, from cuer “heart”, from Latin cor 