gumption (gumpshon)

[Also gumshion, dial. gawmtion; orig. dial., irreg. gumption One does not have gumption till one has been properly cheated. Bulwer , Eugene Aram, i. 9. What the French applaud-and not ami - As "savoir-faire" (I do not know the Dutch); The literal Germans call it "Mutter wi ," The Yankees gumption , and the Grecians "nous"- A useful thing to have about the house. J. G. Saxe, The Wife's Revenge. IMG:content-2801.jpg:[blocks in formation] Throughout every regioun Wente this foule trumpes soun, As swift as a pellet out of gonne When pelet is in the poudre ronne. Chaucer, House of Fame, 1. 1643. cian, who was a man of zeal, often called "a book full of gumption." Athenœum, Jan. 14, 1888, p. 55. gumption le (gump's hon-les), a. [Also gum shonle ;