fleshing one's maiden sword

Verb

flesh one's maiden sword (third-person singular simple present fleshes one's maiden sword, present participle fleshing one's maiden sword, simple past and past participle fleshed one's maiden sword)

1. (dated, idiomatic) To experience or succeed in combat or struggle for the first time, as in the military or in politics.
   • Come brother Iohn, full brauely hast thou flesht / Thy mayden sword.c. 1597 (date written), [William Shakespeare], The History of Henrie the Fourth; […], quarto edition, London: […] P[eter] S[hort] for Andrew Wise, […], published 1598, →OCLC, [Act V, scene iv]