stare down

Meanings

verbstare down (third-person singular simple present stares down, present participle staring down, simple past and past participle stared down)

present singular third person stares down · participle present staring down · participle past stared down · past stared down

transitiveTo overcome or make uncomfortable by staring intently.
“Homer’s Triple Bypass” has the potential to be the most depressing episode in the history of The Simpsons, if not television as whole. It is, after all, about a 36-year-old husband and father staring down death and the prospect of leaving his wife a young widow and his small children fatherless.
2012 June 17, Nathan Rabin, “TV: Review: THE SIMPSONS (CLASSIC): “Homer’s Triple Bypass” (season 4, episode 11; originally aired 12/17/1992)”, in The Onion AV Club, archived from the original on 16 Oct 2013

verbovercome or cause to waver or submit by (or as if by) staring

Similar

Broader

Also see

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

German niederstarren

Cite this entry

APA

stare down. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/stare%20down

MLA

“stare down.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/stare%20down. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “stare down,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/stare%20down.