set of one's jaw

set of one's jaw

1. (set phrase) The manner of one's lower facial expression, especially as suggesting firm resolve, or intensity of thought or feeling.
   • 1909, Louis Joseph Vance, chapter 18, in The Bronze Bell:

     But he made no audible comment, though his thoughts were as black as his brow and as grimly fashioned as the set of his jaw.

   • 1919, Mary Roberts Rinehart, chapter 30, in Long Live the King:

     She saw anger in the very turn of his head and set of his jaw.

   • 1946, Alice Marble, The Road to Wimbledon, C. Scribner's Sons, p. 154 (Google snippet view):

     But it was the set of her jaw and the coolness in her green eyes that made me feel how really formidable she was.

   • 2005 September 5, Cassandra Jardine, “Worried? You bet, say the odd couple with an ocean to cross”, in Telegraph, UK, retrieved 7 April 2017:

     From the set of his jaw and the flash in his eye, it is clear that he always expects to win.

• determination, fortitude, inner strength