dare

Meanings

Verb

  • To have enough courage (to do something).
  • To defy or challenge (someone to do something)
  • To have enough courage to meet or do something, go somewhere, etc.; to face up to
  • To terrify; to daunt.
  • 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.
  • To stare stupidly or vacantly; to gaze as though amazed or terrified.
  • To lie or crouch down in fear.

Noun

Origin

  • 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-, an *-s- extension of *dʰer-.
  • Cognate with Low German dören, Dutch durven, Sanskrit दधर्ष, but also with Ancient Greek θρασύς, Albanian nder, Lithuanian drįsti, Russian дерза́ть.
  • From Middle English, from Old English darian.

Modern English dictionary

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