dare
//dɛə//
Forms
- present (v1)
- dare
- past (v2)
- dared
- past participle (v3)
- dared
- present participle
- daring
- 3rd person singular
- dares
- Plural
- dares
Definitions
1.To have enough courage (to do something).
- The fellow dares not deceive me.
- I wouldn't dare (to) argue with my boss.
- No one dares (to) criticize his decisions.
2.To defy or challenge (someone to do something).
- I dare you to kiss that girl.
3.To have enough courage to meet or do something, go somewhere, etc.; to face up to.
- Will you dare death to reach your goal?
- To wrest it from barbarism, to dare its solitudes.
4.To terrify; to daunt.
- For I have done those follies, those mad mischiefs, Would dare a woman.
1.A challenge to prove courage.
- I did it just for a dare.
2.The quality of daring; venturesomeness; boldness.
- It lends a lustre […] / A large dare to our great enterprise.
3.Defiance; challenge.
- Childish, unworthy dares / Are not enough to part our powers.
4.In the game truth or dare, the choice to perform a dare set by the other players.
- When asked truth or dare, she picked dare.
Frequency
Overall
Uncommon· #2959
By learning goal
- Everyday conversation
- Rare
- General reading & writing
- Uncommon
- Academic
- Rare
- Literature
- Rare
Etymology
From Middle English durren, from Old English durran, from Proto-West Germanic *durʀan, from Proto-Germanic *durzaną (“to dare”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰedʰórse (“to dare”), reduplicated stative of the root *dʰers- (“to be bold, to dare”), an *-s- extension of *dʰer- (“to hold, support”).