moxie

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 3, 2021 is: moxie \MAHK-see\ noun

1 : [energy](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/energy), [pep](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pep)

2 : [courage](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/courage), [determination](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/determination)

3 : [know-how](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/know-how)

Examples:

"On offense, the Giants need more speed, more talent, more explosive plays, more creativity, more power, more moxie. More everything." — [Paul Schwartz, The New York Post, 21 Feb. 2021](https://nypost.com/2021/02/20/how-giants-can-solve-glaring-needs-in-nfl-draft-nfl-free-agency/)

"Ideally the Legislature, on a bipartisan basis, would summon the political moxie to allow robust competition between the research universities and the community colleges for baccalaureate degrees. If that's not possible, anything that allows a four-year degree to be independently offered by a community college is worth doing." — [Robert Robb, The Arizona Republic, 19 Feb. 2021](https://www.azcentral.com/story/opinion/op-ed/robertrobb/2021/02/19/arizona-community-colleges-should-offer-four-year-degrees/6798772002/)

Did you know?

"Hot roasted peanuts! Fresh popcorn! Ice-cold Moxie!" You might have heard such a snack vendor's cry at a baseball game—if you attended it in the early 1900s. In its heyday, some claim that the soft drink named Moxie outsold Coca-Cola. The beverage was a favorite of American writer E. B. White, who wrote, "Moxie contains [gentian](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gentian) root, which is the path to the good life. This was known in the second century before Christ and is a boon to me today." In quick time, moxie had become a slang term for nerve and verve, perhaps because some people thought the drink was a tonic that could cure virtually any ill and bring vim back to even the most lethargic individual.