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Glite Dictionary
to face Goliath

to face Goliath

8.1
To take on a much more powerful person or group
  • idiom
  • Informal
translation icon : enfrentar a Goliat
  • My father David faced Goliath with nothing more... ...than a stone and a shepherd's sling.

He couldn't become king without facing Goliath, right?

Examples

  • To become a champion, you must be willing to face Goliath in the final match.

  • He couldn't become king without facing Goliath, right?

    etthehiphoppreacher

  • She was determined to face Goliath by challenging the large corporation that had taken over her small business.

  • In order to succeed, he had to face Goliath and tackle the toughest obstacles in his path.

Synonyms

to face head-on
vsto face Goliath
9 4.2

Deal with a problem directly instead of avoiding it

involves challenging someone much stronger rather than only directness
to face a challenge
vsto face Goliath
5 3.9

Deal with a difficult problem or situation

is about confronting a far stronger opponent or a formidable threat
to beard the lion in his den
vsto face Goliath
  • Informal
1 9.9

To confront a powerful person directly in their own place

focuses on taking on a much stronger opponent regardless of location

Antonyms

to avoid
∞ 1.0

To stay away from something or not do it to stop something bad from happening

to retreat
235 4.0

To move back from a place or plan to avoid danger

How Difficult

to face Goliath
  • Informal
8.1

Surface Forms

face Goliath infinitive
faced Goliath past
faced Goliath past participle
facing Goliath present participle
faces Goliath third person singular

Morphology

face + goliath

The verb 'face' (to confront) combined with 'Goliath' (a widely recognized metaphor for an overwhelmingly powerful opponent) yields a directly compositional meaning: to confront a much stronger adversary. Although 'Goliath' is a proper-name metaphor from the David and Goliath story, that cultural reference appears in many languages, so learners who know both constituents can reliably infer the MWE meaning.

Etymology

Face Goliath comes from the famous story of David and Goliath, where a small person must face a giant warrior. The strong image of standing before a huge enemy is why the phrase means 'to confront a very powerful opponent'.