to steel oneself against
1
7.4
- phrasal verb
- /stil wʌnˈsɛlf əˈɡɛnst/
:
prepararse para
- He had to steel himself against this kind of thing.
- steeled themselves against the inevitable
- steeled myself against any hope, knowing
Examples
-
Steeling himself against the inevitable abuse, Yuri went to Connie's door and opened it.
Fiction book (1999) -
Someone please tell me how to steel myself against this profession I have chosen.
Blog text (5) -
To make her stop what she was doing, I would have had to steel myself against her, mentally and physically.
Fiction book (1992) -
We would soon be in paradise again, among all those carefree people, and nothing remained for me but to steel myself against the forthcoming struggle.
Fiction book (2002) -
"He straightened, as though steeling himself against an expected blow.
Fiction book (1995) -
Steeling himself against what he might find, Yuri moved over to the door to the lab itself.
Fiction book (1999) -
H'Ree steeled himself against the ache and pressed on.
Fiction book (1999) -
She needed to steel herself against the harsh criticism of her performance during the review.
-
After hearing the bad news, he had to steel himself against the sadness that threatened to overwhelm him.
-
To face the daunting challenge ahead, everyone must steel themselves against any fears and doubts.
Synonyms
487
2.8
To make yourself ready in your mind for something unpleasant or difficult
40
6.5
Get ready for something bad or difficult that you expect to happen
12
7.0
To make yourself ready to face something difficult
7
7.6
To prepare yourself to face something unpleasant or difficult
3
7.5
To prepare yourself mentally for something difficult or unpleasant
1
6.6
To make yourself ready to do something difficult
How Prepared
- Informal
1
7.7
- Formal
7
9.2
1
7.4
40
6.5
487
2.8
Surface Forms
Morphology
The expression combines the verb 'steel' (to make hard/firm) with the reflexive 'oneself' and 'against' (indicating resistance), so the meaning 'harden or prepare oneself to resist something unpleasant' is a clear metaphorical extension of the constituents. Because the connection is figurative but directly inferable from the parts and parallels other constructions like 'brace oneself', it is not fully compositional nor fully idiomatic.
Etymology
Steel oneself against comes from the image of making oneself like steel—hard and strong before something difficult happens. So it means 'to make yourself ready' in your mind to face something unpleasant or difficult.