gumption

[ guhmp-shuh n ]

/ ˈgʌmp ʃən /

initiative; aggressiveness; resourcefulness: With his gumption he'll make a success of himself.

courage; spunk; guts: It takes gumption to quit a high-paying job.

common sense; shrewdness.

Origin of gumption

1710–20; orig. Scots

gump·tion·less, adjective gump·tious, adjective

gummosis, gummous, gummy, gummy shark, gump, gumption, gumri, gumshield, gumshoe, gumsucker, gumtree

Yes, if you have courage, desire, and gumption to do it, why not?

Pierce Brosnan’s Life After Bond: From Action Hero to Losing His Daughter to Cancer |Tim Teeman |July 2, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
Will the underdogs prevail through hard work and gumption or will billionaires turn Wisconsin into their own playground?

Koch Brothers Invade Tiny Iron County, Wisconsin |Dean Obeidallah |March 25, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
The expression and gumption she sells the number with her eyes is the real magic of Shirley Temple.

7 Impossibly Cute Shirley Temple Moments (VIDEOS) |Kevin Fallon |February 11, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
Fashion would lose much of its electricity without the head-snapping magnetism of models moving with gumption down a runway.

Milan Wraps Up Spring 2013 Fashion Week With Armani and Cavalli Showdown |Robin Givhan |September 24, 2012 |DAILY BEAST

Mitt Romney, who has reverted to the not-a-follicle-out-of-place hairstyle, never really got up the gumption to hit Newt.

Paul Begala: Newt's Shameless Chutzpah Saves Him in Fox Debate |Paul Begala |December 16, 2011 |DAILY BEAST
The rivers and seas favor navigation, if we have gumption enough to use and master their forces.

The Breath of Life |John Burroughs
For a man who's knocked about as much as you have, I must say you've picked up an astonishingly small outfit of gumption.

The Damnation of Theron Ware |Harold Frederic
"And nobody's had the gumption to fight 'em," said Mr. Widgeon.

Mr. Crewe's Career, Complete |Winston Churchill
The lamb grew visibly in gumption; and finally, after another swig at the bar of life, he was a made lamb.

The Wrong Woman |Charles D. Stewart
They cannot get a large supply of it, yet what boy in any great corn state could not get a ton of it if he had the gumption.

The Library of Work and Play: Outdoor Work |Mary Rogers Miller

gumption

/ (ˈɡʌmpʃən) /

British common sense or resourcefulness

initiative or courage you haven't the gumption to try

C18: originally Scottish, of unknown origin