DARE

dare, daring

(noun) a challenge to do something dangerous or foolhardy; “he could never refuse a dare”

defy, dare

(verb) challenge; “I dare you!”

dare

(verb) to be courageous enough to try or do something; “I don’t dare call him”; “she dares to dress differently from the others”

Source: WordNet® 3.1

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Etymology

Acronym

Proper noun

DARE

Acronym of Drug Abuse Resistance Education.

Acronym of Dictionary of American Regional English.

Anagrams

• 'eard, Dear, Rade, Read, Reda, ared, dear, rade, read

Etymology 1

Verb

dare (third-person singular simple present dares or dare, present participle daring, simple past and past participle (archaic) durst or dared)

(intransitive) To have enough courage (to do something).

(transitive) To defy or challenge (someone to do something)

(transitive) To have enough courage to meet or do something, go somewhere, etc.; to face up to

(transitive) To terrify; to daunt.

(transitive) To catch (larks) by producing terror through the use of mirrors, scarlet cloth, a hawk, etc, so that they lie still till a net is thrown over them.

Usage notes

• Dare is a semimodal verb. When used as an auxiliary, the speaker can choose whether to use do-support and the auxiliary "to" when forming negative and interrogative sentences. For example, "I don't dare (to) go", "I dare not go", "I didn't dare (to) go", and "I dared not go" are all correct. Similarly "Dare you go?", "Do you dare (to) go?", "Dared you go?", and "Did you dare (to) go?" are all correct. When not an auxiliary verb, it is different: "I dared him to do it." usually is not written as "I dared him do it.", and "Did you dare him to do it?" is almost never written as "Dared you him do it?"

• In negative and interrogative sentences where "do" is not used, the third-person singular form of the verb is usually "dare" and not "dares": "Dare he go? He dare not go."

• Colloquially, "dare not" can be contracted to "daren't". According to the Cambridge Grammar of the English Language, "daren’t" is used occasionally in ordinary past time contexts (Kim daren’t tell them so I had to do it myself).

• Rare regional forms dassn't and dasn't also exists in the present tense and archaic forms dursn't and durstn't in the past tense.

• The expression dare say, used almost exclusively in the first-person singular and in the present tense, means "think probable". It is also spelt daresay.

• Historically, the simple past of dare was durst. In the 1830s, it was overtaken by dared, which has been markedly more common ever since.

Noun

dare (plural dares)

A challenge to prove courage.

The quality of daring; venturesomeness; boldness.

Defiance; challenge.

Etymology 2

Verb

dare (third-person singular simple present dares, present participle daring, simple past and past participle dared)

(obsolete) To stare stupidly or vacantly; to gaze as though amazed or terrified. [16^thc.]

(obsolete) To lie or crouch down in fear. [16^thc.]

Etymology 3

Noun

dare (plural dares)

A small fish, the dace.

Anagrams

• 'eard, Dear, Rade, Read, Reda, ared, dear, rade, read

Proper noun

Dare (plural Dares)

A surname.

Statistics

• According to the 2010 United States Census, Dare is the 9368^th most common surname in the United States, belonging to 3472 individuals. Dare is most common among White (82.89%) individuals.

Anagrams

• 'eard, Dear, Rade, Read, Reda, ared, dear, rade, read

Source: Wiktionary

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Dare, v. i. [imp. Durst or Dared (; p. p. Dared; p. pr. & vb. n. Daring.] Etym: [OE. I dar, dear, I dare, imp. dorste, durste, AS. ic dear I dare, imp. dorste. inf. durran; akin to OS. gidar, gidorsta, gidurran, OHG. tar, torsta, turran, Goth. gadar, gadaúrsta, Gr. tharsei^n, tharrei^n, to be bold, tharsy`s bold, Skr. Dhrsh to be bold. sq. root70.]

Definition: To have adequate or sufficient courage for any purpose; to be bold or venturesome; not to be afraid; to venture. I dare do all that may become a man; Who dares do more is none. Shak. Why then did not the ministers use their new law Bacause they durst not, because they could not. Macaulay. Who dared to sully her sweet love with suspicion. Thackeray. The tie of party was stronger than the tie of blood, because a partisan was more ready to dare without asking why. Jowett (Thu

Note: The present tense, I dare, is really an old past tense, so that the third person is he dare, but the form he dares is now often used, and will probably displace the obsolescent he dare, through grammatically as incorrect as he shalls or he cans. Skeat. The pore dar plede (the poor man dare plead). P. Plowman. You know one dare not discover you. Dryden. The fellow dares nopt deceide me. Shak. Here boldly spread thy hands, no venom'd weed Dares blister them, no slimly snail dare creep. Beau. & Fl.

Note: Formerly durst was also used as the present. Sometimes the old form dare is found for durst or dared.

Dare, v. y. [imp. & p. p. Dared; p. pr. & vb. n. Daring.]

1. To have courage for; to attempt courageously; to venture to do or to undertake. What high concentration of steady feeling makes men dare every thing and do anything Bagehot. To wrest it from barbarism, to dare its solitudes. The Century.

2. To challenge; to provoke; to defy. Time, I dare thee to discover Such a youth and such a lover. Dryden.

Dare, n.

1. The quality of daring; venturesomeness; boldness; dash. [R.] It lends a luster . . . A large dare to our great enterprise. Shak.

2. Defiance; challenge. Childish, unworthy dares Are not enought to part our powers. Chapman. Sextus Pompeius Hath given the dare to Cæsar. Shak.

Dare, v. i. Etym: [OE. darien, to lie hidden, be timid.]

Definition: To lurk; to lie hid. [Obs.] Chaucer.

Dare, v. t.

Definition: To terrify; to daunt. [Obs.] For I have done those follies, those mad mischiefs, Would dare a woman. Beau. & Fl. To dare larks, to catch them by producing terror through to use of mirrors, scarlet cloth, a hawk, etc., so that they lie still till a net is thrown over them. Nares.

Dare, n. Etym: [See Dace.] (Zoöl.)

Definition: A small fish; the dace.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition

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