Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Dare
Dare
(dâr)
, Verb.
I.
[
imp.
Durst
(dûrst)
or Dared
(dârd)
; p. p.
Dared
; p. pr. & vb. n.
Daring
.] [OE. , , to be bold, bold, Skr.
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. τηαρσεῖν
τηαρρεῖν
τηαρσύσ
Dhrsh
to be bold. √70.] 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. Shakespeare
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[GREEK]yd.).
☞ 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
not deceive me. Shakespeare
Here boldly spread thy hands, no venom’d weed
Dares
blister them, no slimy snail dare
creep. Beau. & Fl.
☞ Formerly durst was also used as the present. Sometimes the old form dare is found for durst or dared.
Dare
,Verb.
T.
[
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
Such a youth and such a lover.
dare
thee to discoverSuch a youth and such a lover.
Dryden.
Dare
,Noun.
1.
The quality of daring; venturesomeness; boldness; dash.
[R.]
It lends a luster . . .
A large
A large
dare
to our great enterprise. Shakespeare
2.
Defiance; challenge.
Childish, unworthy
Are not enought to part our powers.
dares
Are not enought to part our powers.
Chapman.
Sextus Pompeius
Hath given the
Hath given the
dare
to Cæsar. Shakespeare
Dare
,Verb.
I.
[OE.
darien
, to lie hidden, be timid.] To lurk; to lie hid.
[Obs.]
Chaucer.
Dare
,Verb.
T.
To terrify; to daunt.
[Obs.]
For I have done those follies, those mad mischiefs,
Would
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.
Webster 1828 Edition
Dare
DARE
,Verb.
I.
I dare do all that may become a man. Shak.
Dare any of you go to law before the unjust? 1 Cor. vi
None of his disciples durst ask him, who art thou. John xxi
In this intransitive sense, dare is not generally followed by the sign to before another verb in the infinitive; though to may be used with propriety. In German, the verb is numbered among the auxiliaries. In the transitive form, it is regular; thus,
DARE
,Verb.
T.
Time, I dare thee to discover such a youth and such a lover. Dryden.
To dare larks, to catch them by means of a looking glass, or by keeping a bird of prey hovering aloft, which keeps them in amaze till caught; to terrify or amaze.
DARE
, Defiance; challenge.DARE
,Noun.