dare

present singular third person dares · obsolete present singular third person dast · participle present daring · participle past dared · past dared · obsolete participle past durst · obsolete past durst

1. intransitiveTo have enough courage (to do something).

   I wouldn't dare (to) argue with my boss.

   5 more examples

   No one dares (to) criticize his decisions.

   They daredn't tell me the truth, even though I dared (to) acknowledge my mistake to them.

   I daren't tell him I've had an affair with another man.

   The fellow dares not deceive me.

   1611 April (first recorded performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Cymbeline”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i]

   Why then did not the ministers use their new law? Because they durst not, because they could not.

   1832, Thomas Macaulay, Parliamentary Reform

   Synonyms: venture

2. transitiveTo defy or challenge (someone to do something).

   I dare you to kiss that girl.

   2 more examples

   Don't back away just yet / From destinations set / I dare you to be proud / To dare to shout aloud / For convictions that you feel / Like sound from bells to peal

   1980, “Double Dare”, in In the Flat Field, performed by Bauhaus, Track 1

   Particular note, in this period, should be made of the actions of Joseph Denman, commander of the Northern Division of the Squadron, who went on an absolutely ruthless and systematic campaign along the African coast, burning so-called "slaving factories" to the ground and openly daring anyone who objected to try and stop him.

   2018 December 1, Drachinifel, 9:26 from the start, in Anti-Slavery Patrols - The West Africa Squadron, archived from the original on 29 Nov 2024

3. transitiveTo have enough courage to meet or do something, go somewhere, etc.; to face up to.

   Will you dare death to reach your goal?

   2 more examples

   To wrest it from barbarism, to dare its solitudes.

   1886, Clarence King, The Century

   Servants would hardly dare to enter the room where, glooming and glowering, the maned and bearded head looked up from his papers as a lion from a bone. Only Enid could dare him at such a time, and even she felt occasionally that sinking of the heart which the bravest of tamers may experience as he unbars the gate of the cage.

   1926, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Land of Mist

4. transitiveTo terrify; to daunt.

   For I have done those follies, those mad mischiefs, Would dare a woman.

   c. 1608–1611, Francis Beaumont, John Fletcher, “The Maid’s Tragedy”, in Comedies and Tragedies […], London: […] Humphrey Robinson, […], and for Humphrey Moseley […], published 1679, →OCLC, Act IV, scene i

5. archaictransitiveTo drive larks to the ground by scaring them (for instance, with mirrors or hawks) so they can be caught in nets.

   dare us, like larks

   1613 (date written), William Shakespeare, [John Fletcher], “The Famous History of the Life of King Henry the Eight”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals)

   2 more examples

   I have an hobby can make larks to dare

   1516, John Skelton, Magnificence, Manchester University Press, →ISBN, page 35

   How, think you, would that godly prince (if he were now living) handle our idols, set up against God's commandment directly, and being figures of nothing but folly, and for fools to gaze on, till they become as wise as the blocks themselves which they stare on, and so fall down as dared larks in that gaze, and being themselves alive, worship a dead stock or stone, gold or silver, and so become idolaters […]

   1815, Church of England, Sermons: Or, Homilies, page 210

plural dares

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.

   c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Fourth, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i]

3. Defiance; challenge.

   Sextus Pompeius / Hath given the dare to Caesar.

   c. 1606–1607 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Anthonie and Cleopatra”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii]

   1 more example

   Childish, unworthy dares / Are not enough to part our powers.

   [1611?], Homer, “(please specify |book=I to XXIV)”, in Geo[rge] Chapman, transl., The Iliads of Homer Prince of Poets. […], London: […] Nathaniell Butter, →OCLC; republished as The Iliads of Homer, Prince of Poets, […], new edition, volume (please specify the book number), London: Charles Knight and Co., […], 1843, →OCLC

4. gamesIn the game truth or dare, the choice to perform a dare set by the other players.

   When asked truth or dare, she picked dare.

present singular third person dares · participle present daring · participle past dared · past dared

1. obsoleteTo stare stupidly or vacantly; to gaze as though amazed or terrified.First known use 16th c.
2. obsoleteTo lie or crouch down in fear.First known use 16th c.

plural dares

1. A small fish, the dace

   The Dare is not unlike a Chub, but proportionably less; his Body is more white and flatter, and his Tail more forked.

   1766, Richard Brookes, The art of angling, rock and sea-fishing

1. USabbreviationacronymAcronym of Drug Abuse Resistance Education.
2. abbreviationacronymhuman sciencesAcronym of Dictionary of American Regional English.

plural Dares

1. A surname.