get up enough nerve meaning

[American idiom]
to get brave enough to do something.
• I could never get up enough nerve to sing in public.
• I'd do it if I could get up enough nerve, but I'm shy.

• get enough nerve up:    [American slang]Fi ...
• get enough courage up:    [American slang]Go ...
• get enough guts up:    [American slang]Go ...

Examples

1. I'd figured that before the night was over, I'd get up enough nerve to go and say hello, but I was totally unprepared for this.
2. "One of these days, if I get up enough nerve, I'll call up Maria ( Nat King Cole's widow ) and say,'I want to sing with your husband.
3. Heck, at 32, I was so competent and confident that I was still trying to master parallel parking and trying to get up enough nerve to ask women for dates without resorting to cue cards and hand puppets.