| 释义 |
▪ I. dare, v.1|dɛə(r)|
Pa. tense durst |dɜːst|, dared |dɛərd|; pa. pple. dared. Forms: see below.
[One of the interesting group of Teutonic preterite-present verbs, of which the extant present is an original preterite tense: see can, dow, etc. OE. durran, pres. dearr, durron, pa. dorste, = OS. gidurran, -dar, -durrun, -dorsta, MLG. doren, dar, doren, dorste, OFris. dûra, (dûr or dor), dorste, OHG. gi-turran, -tar, -turrun, -torsta, pa. pple. gitorran, MHG. turren, tar, turren, torste, subj. törste, Goth. ga-daursan, -dars, -daursun, subj. -daursjau, -daursta: belonging originally to the third ablaut series ders-, dars-, durs-, Aryan dhers-, dhars-, dhrs-: cf. Skr. dhrsh-, perf. dadhārsha, to be bold, Gr. θαρσ-, θρασ- in θρασύς bold, θαρσεῖν to be bold, OSlav. drŭzate to be bold, dare. In ON., the word is wanting, its sense being supplied by the weak verb þora. It is also lost in mod.Ger. and Du.; in MDu. it appears to have run together with the verb dorven, = OE. þurfan to need (see thar); hence in Du., durven is to dare; and Ger. dürfen in some of its uses approaches the sense ‘dare’. These two verbs have also fallen together under a d form in some Frisian dialects; and in ME. there was some confusion between them, dar being sometimes written for thar, while, on the other hand, th- forms (some of them at least from Norse) appear with the sense of dar: see A. 9 below.
The original 3rd sing. pres. he dare, and pa. tense durst, remained undisturbed to the modern period, in which the transitive senses (B. II.) were developed; but early in the 16th c. the new forms dares, dared, appeared in the south, and are always used in the transitive senses, and now also in the intransitive sense when followed by to. In the original construction, followed by the infinitive without to, dare, durst are still in common use (esp. in the negative ‘he dare not’, ‘he durst not’); and most writers prefer ‘he dare go’, or ‘he dares to go’, to ‘he dares go ’. The northern dialects generally retain ‘he dare, he durst’, and writers of northern extraction favour their retention in literary English when followed by the simple infinitive without to.]
A. Inflexions.
1. pres. ind.
a. 1st sing. 1 dear(r, north. darr, 1–3 dear, 2–4 der, 3 Orm. darr, 3–6 dar, 5– dare, (Sc. 7 dar, 8 –9 daur).
c950Lindisf. Gosp., Jerome's Prol. ⁋2 Þe ich darr huelc hwoego..to eccanne. c1000ælfric Gen. xliv. 34 Ne dear ic ham faran. c1200Ormin 10659 Ne darr i þe nohht fullhtnenn. c1205Lay. 6639 Ne der ich noht kennen. a1225St. Marher. 16 Speoken i ne dar nawt. a1240Ureisun in Cott. Hom. 185 Mi leofman dear ich swa clipien. c1350Will. Palerne 938 Y dar nouȝt for schame. Ibid. 2169, I der leye mi lif. c1420Avow. Arth. xxxviii, I dar lay. 1513More in Grafton Chron. II. 770, I dare well avowe it. 1605Shakes. Macb. i. vii. 44 Letting I dare not wait vpon I would. 1711Addison Spect. No. 58 ⁋1, I dare promise my self. 1725Ramsay Gent. Sheph. ii. iv, I daurna stay. 18..[see examples in B].
b. 2nd sing. 1 dearst, (north. *darst), 2–3 dærst, 2–4 derst, 3 Orm. darrst, 3–6 darst, darryst, daryst, 4–5 darist, 5 darste, 5– darest, (7 darst, 7– dar'st). βnorth. 4–6 dar, 4– dare.
Beowulf 1059 Gif ðu..dearst..bidan. c1175Lamb. Hom. 27 Þu ne derst cumen bi-foren him. c1200Ormin 5614 Þatt tu Ne darrst nohht Drihhtin wraþþenn. c1205Lay. 20375 Þu ne dærst [c 1275 darst]..abiden. c1385Chaucer L.G.W. 1450 Hypsip. & Medea, Now daryst thow [v.r. darstou] take this viage. c1400Rom. Rose 2532 That thou resoun derst bigynne. c1400Lanfranc's Cirurg. 302 Whanne þou..ne darist not do it. 1470–85Malory Arthur x. lv, Arte thou a knygte and darste not telle thy name? 1616R. C. Times' Whistle v. 2143 [Thou] darst repaire. 1667Milton P.L. ii. 682 Thou..That dar'st..advance.
βa1300Cursor M. 5668 (Cott.) How dare [v.r. dar] þou sua þi broþer smite! c1470Henry Wallace iii. 361 Quhi, Scot, dar thou nocht preiff? 1578Gude & Godlie Ballates (1868) 116 How dar thow for mercy cry?
c. 3rd sing. α1 dear(r, north. darr, 1–3 dear, 2–3 der, 3 Orm. darr, 3–6 dar, 5– dare, (8–9 Sc. daur). β6 dareth, -yth, 6– dares.
Beowulf 1373 Gif he ᵹesecean dear. c1175Lamb. Hom. 111 He his men eisian ne der. c127511 Pains of Hell 231 in O.E. Misc. 153 Ne dar no seynt heom bidde fore. 1340Ayenb. 32 Þet ne dar naȝt guo ine þe peþe. 1382Wyclif Rom. x. 20 Ysaie dar, and seith. c1400Mandeville (Roxb.) xii. 51 Nere þis see dare na man dwell. 1483Caxton G. de la Tour F viij, A coueytous herte dar well Saye. 1549Compl. Scotl. 14 Ȝit he dar be sa bold. 1599Shakes. Much Ado iii. i. 74 Who dare tell her so? 1603― Meas. for M. v. i. 315 The Duke dare No more stretch this finger of mine, then he Dare racke his owne. 1630Davenant Cruel Bro. 1, A pretty curr! Dare it bite as well as barke? 1816Scott Antiq. xxvi, ‘Shew me a word my Saunders daur speak, or a turn he daur do.’ 1850Tennyson In Mem. xlviii, Nor dare she trust a larger lay.
β1533J. Heywood Mery Play betw. Johan, Tib, etc., The kokold..for his lyfe daryth not loke hether ward. 1605Shakes. Macb. i. vii. 46–7, I dare do all that may become a man, Who dares do more, is none. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 418 The fearful Stag dares for his Hind engage. 1798Frere & Hammond in Anti-Jacobin No. 28 (1852) 140 The man who dares to die. 1812J. Wilson Isle of Palms ii. 241 Poor wretch! he dares not open his eye. 1856Emerson Eng. Traits, Lit. Wks. (Bohn) II. 113 No priest dares hint at a Providence which does not respect English utility.
¶ The present dare has been carelessly used for the past dared or durst.
1760Impostors Detected I. 232 He pretended that the marquis dare not appear abroad by day. 1811A. Bell in Southey Life (1844) II. 651 I wish I dare [= durst] put them down among our books. 1847Marryat Childr. N. Forest vii, He told me he dare not speak to you on the subject. 1857Kingsley Two Y. Ago I. 214 She was silent; for to rouse her tyrant was more than she dare do. Ibid. 298 But she went into no trance; she dare not.
2. pres. ind. pl. α1 durron(-e), 2–3 durre(n, 3–4 duren, dorre(n, 4–5 durn(-e), dore(n, -un, 4–5 dur, dor. β3–6 north. der, 4–5 dar, (5–6 darne), 5– dare, (Sc. 7 dar, 8–9 daur).
c900Bæda's Hist. i. xxvii. Resp. 5 (1890) 72 Þæt heo nowiht swelces ne durron ᵹefremman. c1205Lay. 25705 Þis lond cnihtes ne durren wið him mare na fehten [c 1275 ne dorre þis lond cnihtes]. a1225Juliana 47 Hu durre ȝe? c1250Gen. & Ex. 2239 He ne duren ðe weie cumen in. c1290S. Eng. Leg. I. 244/133 Þat ne dorre we nouȝt. 1340Ayenb. 38 Þet..nolleþ oþer ne dorre riȝt do. 1382Wyclif Gen. xliv. 26 We dorun [1388 doren] not se the face of the lord. c1386Chaucer Can. Yeom. Prol. & T. 108 (Harl. MS.) As þay þat dor [v.r. dore, dur, dar (3 MSS.), dare] nouȝt schewen her presence. c1400in Wyclif's Sel. Wks. III. 476 Now durne worldly prestis take so grete lordschipe upon hem. c1400Mandeville (1839) xxvii. 271 Therfore dur not the marchauntes passen there. 1401Pol. Poems (Rolls) II. 107 Privyly as ȝe doren.
βa1300Cursor M. 17425 (Cott.) Þan dar we sai. 1377Langl. P. Pl. B. Prol. 152 We dar nouȝte wel loke. 1393Ibid. C. iv. 214 Pore men der nat pleyne. c1400Mandeville (1839) vi. 64 Thei dar wel werre with hem. c1400Test. Love ii. (1560) 281/2 Loues servaunts..in no place darne appeare. 15..Sir Andrew Barton in Surtees Misc. (1890) 64 To France nor Flanders we der not goe. 1562Winȝet Tractates i. Wks. 1888 I. 4 We dar not contemne. 1581Mulcaster Positions xxxviii. (1887) 168 Ladies who dare write themselues. 1664Evelyn Kal. Hort. (1729) 186 We dare boldly pronounce it. 1861Dickens Gt. Expect. xxiii, How dare you tell me so?
3. pres. subj. αsing. 1 dyrre, 1–5 durre, 3–4 dure, 4 derre, 4–5 dorre; pl. 1–5 durren, 4–5 durre. β4– dare, 5 dair, (8–9 Sc. daur).
Beowulf 2763 (Z.) 1380 Sec ᵹif ðu dyrre. c888K. ælfred Boeth. xiv. §1 Hwæðer ðu durre ᵹilpan. c1220Bestiary 187 Noȝ[t] wurdi, ðat tu dure loken up. a1250Owl & Night. 1704 Non so kene, That durre abide mine onsene. c1380Sir Ferumb. 451 Com on ȝif þov derre. c1430Pilgr. Lyf Manhode iv. xix, Soo þat she durre no more be so proud. Ibid. xxix. 191 If þou dorre entre..þer in.
βa1340Hampole Psalter xiii. 1 Þof a wreche dare thynke god is noght. 1380[see B. 1 b]. 1526Skelton Magnyf. 2205 Here is my gloue; take it vp, and thou dare. 1592Davies Immort. Soul viii. ii, If we dare to judge our Makers Will. Mod. Do it if you dare!
4. pa. ind. αsing. 1 dorste, north. darste, 2–6 dorste, 1–6 durste, 3 Orm. durrste, 4–6 dorst, 4– durst, (5 darste, derste, drust, 5–7 dirst); pl. 1 dorston, 2–5 dorste(n, durste(n, (4 draste), 4–6 dorst, 4– durst. β6– dared, (8–9 Sc. daur'd).
c893K. ælfred Oros. iv. xi, Hwæðer he wið Romanum winnan dorste. 918O.E. Chron. (Earle 104), Hie ne dorston þæt land nawer ᵹesecan. a1154Ibid. an. 1135 Durste nan man misdon wið oðer on his time. c1175Lamb. Hom. 97 Ða apostlas ne dursten bodian. c1200Ormin. 2098 Forrþi durrste he siþþenn Don hise þeowwess takenn Crist. c1200Trin. Coll. Hom. 139 He ne dorste for godes eie forleten. c1250Gen. & Ex. 2593 Durste ȝhe non lengere him for-helen. a1300Cursor M. 2928 (Cott.) Þar again durst he not spek. c1300Havelok 1866 But dursten he [= they] newhen him no more. 1340Ayenb. 73 Þe raþre..þanne þou dorstest..consenti. a1340Hampole Psalter xxi. 18 His kirtil þe whilke þai durst noght shere. 1380[see B. 2]. 1393Gower Conf. II. 174 He his mother derste love. c1440Partonope 1075 And the hethen drust not abyde. c1440York Myst. xxiv. 14 How durst þou stele so stille away! 1535Joye Apol. Tindale 32 He stretched forth his penne..as farre as he dirst. 1583Hollyband Campo di Fior 219 Wentest thou to see? I durst not. 1641R. Brooke Episc. 39 As Mercury once spared Jupiter's thunder-bolts which he dirst not steale. 1752Johnson Rambler No. 204 ⁋11 They durst not speak. 1849Mrs. Carlyle Lett. II. 88, I durst not let myself talk to you at Scotsbrig.
βc1590Greene Fr. Bacon iv. 10 Lovely Eleonor, Who darde for Edwards sake cut through the seas. Ibid. iv. 18 She darde to brooke Neptunus haughty pride. 1641Burroughs Sions Joy 26 They dared not doe as others did. 1650Fuller Pisgah I. 145 They dared not to stay him. 1790Cowper Let. to Mrs. Bodham 21 Nov., Such as I dared not have given. 1821Southey in Q. Rev. XXV. 345 He dared not take the crown himself. 1848Dickens Dombey xxx, Florence hardly dared to raise her eyes. 1864J. H. Newman Apologia 288, I dared not tell why. 1883Froude Short Stud. IV. i. iv. 48 Any one who dared to lay hands on him.
5. pa. subj. sing. as in pa. ind. pl. 1 dorsten, 2– as in ind.
a1000Boeth. Metr. i. 54 Gif hi leodfruman læstan dorsten. c1374Chaucer Troylus i. 906 Yn loue I dorst [v.r. durst] haue sworn. 1377Langl. P. Pl. B. Prol. 178 Þere ne was ratoun..þat dorst haue ybounden þe belle aboute þe cattis nekke. 1556Aurelio & Isab. (1608) C viij, What man..that dorste haue tolde me.
¶ This Past Subj. or Conditional durst (= would dare) is often (like the analogous could, would, should, ought) used indefinitely of present time.
c1400–50Alexander 1673 Sire, þis I depely disire, durst I it neuyn. 1606W. Crashaw Rom. Forgeries 161 Do but promise that you will iudge without partialitie, and I durst make you iudges in this case. 1662Glanvill Lux Orient. (1682) 83, I confess, I'm so timorous that I durst not follow their example. 1761Sterne Tr. Shandy III. xx, I have no desire, and besides if I had, I durst not. 1793E. Inchbald Midn. Hour ii. i, I hear his vessel is just arrived, I durst not leave my house. 1881Private Secretary I. 132 My mother does not drink wine and my father durstn't.
6. pres. inf. α1 *durran, 2–5 durre(n, 3–4 dur, 5 durn, doren, dorn, dore. β5 daren, -un, darn, (derre), 5– dare, (8–9 Sc. daur).
a1300Cursor M. 22603 (Cott.) He a word ne sal dur speke. 1340Hampole Pr. Consc. 4548 Na man sal þam dur biry. c1430Pilgr. Lyf. Manhode i. lxxxi, Þer shulde noon dore resceyue it. c1440Promp. Parv. 114 Darn, or durn (Pynson darun, daren, or dorn), audeo. c1450Lonelich Grail xlii. 538 They scholen not doren lyen. 1481Caxton Reynard (Arb.) 72 To dore to me doo suche a shame.
βc1400Mandeville (Roxb.) iv. 12 So hardy þat he sall dare ga to hir. 1488Cath. Angl. 89 Dare, audere, presumere, vsurpare. Ibid. 97 Derre, vsurpare, presumere, audere. 1715De Foe Fam. Instruct. i. iii. (1841) I. 64 They shall not dare to despise it. 1816Scott Old Mort. viii, ‘They'll no daur open a door to us.’ 1841–4Emerson Ess., Self-Reliance Wks. (Bohn) I. 35 You cannot hope too much, or dare too much. 1871Macduff Mem. Patmos xi. 153 We cannot dare read the times and seasons of prophecy.
7. pres. pple. and vbl. n. 6– daring.
1586A. Day Eng. Secretary ii. (1625) 29 None now daring to take the same from you. 1889Spectator 19 Oct., Power..held on the tenure of daring to do, as well as daring to decide.
8. pa. pple. α5 ? dorren [cf. OHG. gitorran], dorre; 6 dare. β6–7, dial. 8–9 durst. γ6– dared.
αc1430Pilgr. Lyf Manhode ii. v. (1869) 78 How hast thou dorre be so hardi? c1500Melusine xlix. 324 How one knyght alone had the hardynes to haue dare come.
β1509Barclay Shyp of Folys (1874) I. 207 They sholde not have durst the peoples vyce to blame. 1605Sylvester Du Bartas ii. iii. Law, But Iochebed would faine (if she had durst) Her deere sonne Moses secretly have nource't. 1665Pepys Diary (1875–79) III. 315 A hackney-coach, the first I have durst to go in many a day. 1691tr. Emilianne's Obs. Journ. Naples 217 They had not durst so much as to take one step. Mod. Sc. If I had durst do it.
γ1529in W. H. Turner Select. Rec. Oxford 65 They have dared to break out so audaciously. 1603Shakes. Meas. for M. ii. ii. 91 Those many had not dar'd to doe that euill. 1883Daily Tel. 10 Nov. 4/8 A simple monk had dared to consign a Papal decree to the flames.
9. Forms with initial þ, th [partly from Norse þora, þorði (Sw. torde, Da. turde), partly confused with thar to need]: pres. ind. 2 sing. 3–4 therstou, pl. 3–4 we thore, 5 they ther(not); pa. ind. 3 þurte, 3–4 therste, 4 therst, 5 thorst.
c1300Havelok 10 Þe wicteste man..That þurte riden on ani stede. c1300St. Brandan 581 We ne thore oure maister i-seo. Ibid. 585 Hou therstou..bifore him nemne his name? c1300Beket 1550 Hi ne therste aȝe the Kinges wille nomore holde him so. [Also 895, 1156.] c1380Sir Ferumb. 2668 Was þer þan no man þat in wraþþe þerst sen ys fas. 1460Lybeaus Disc. 1155 The four gonne to fle, And thorst naght nyghhe hym nere. 1465Marg. Paston in Paston Lett. No. 506 II. 195 They say that they thernot take it uppon hem.
B. Signification.
I. intr. (Inflected dare, durst (also dares, dared).)
1. To have boldness or courage (to do something); to be so bold as.
a. followed by inf. without to (the original const.).
a1000[see examples in A. above]. 1154O.E. Chron., Ne durste nan man don oþer bute god. a1225Juliana 42 Þenne darie we & ne durren neuer cumen biuoren him. a1300Cursor M. 3586 (Cott.) Baldlik þat dar i sai. 14..[see examples in A. above]. 1568Grafton Chron. II. 395 Whatsoever the king did, no man durst speake a worde. 1611Bible John xxi. 12 None of the disciples durst aske him, Who art thou? 1743Johnson Debates in Parlt. (1787) II. 441 No man dared afterwards..expose himself to the fury of the people. 1759H. Walpole Corr. (ed. 3) III. cccxxxv. 302 Two hundred and sixty-eight Sequins are more than I dare lay out. 1848Macaulay Hist. Eng. II. 74 Nature has caprices which art dares not imitate. 1862A. Hislop Sc. Prov. 5 Ae man may steal a horse where anither daurna look ower the hedge.
b. The inf. is often unexpressed.
a1225Ancr. R. 128, & ȝelpeð of hore god, hwar se heo durren & muwen. c1350Will. Palerne 2040, [I] missaide hire as i durst. c1380Wyclif Serm. Sel. Wks. I. 222 He mai be martyr if he dair. 1535–83[see A. 4]. 1652Culpepper Eng. Physician (1809) 343, I have delivered it as plain as I durst. 1725De Foe Voy. round World (1840) 344 [They] brought them as near the place as they durst. 1810Scott Lady of L. i. xxi, The will to do, the soul to dare. 1852C. M. Yonge Cameos II. xxii. 238 John of Gaunt had favoured the reformer as far as he durst.
c. with to and inf.
In this construction the 3rd sing. is now dares and the pa. tense dared; but durst to was formerly used. ‘None dared to speak’, is more emphatic than ‘none durst speak’.
c1555Harpsfield Divorce Hen. VIII (1878) 269 The Counsell..neither durst to abridge or diminish any of them. 1611Bible Transl. Pref. 9 It were to be wished, that they had dared to tell it. 1619Brent tr. Sarpi's Counc. Trent (1676) 35 A Spanish Notary dared to appear publickly in the Rota. 1625Burges Pers. Tithes 6 No intelligent man durst absolutely to deny any of these Conclusions. 1677Gale Crt. Gentiles II. iv. 5 No one durst to breathe otherwise than according to the Dictates of her Law. 1836W. Irving Astoria I. 289 No one would dare to desert. 1870E. Peacock Ralf Skirl. III. 218 He did not dare to meet his uncle. 1848,1883[see A. 4].
2. (ellipt.) To dare to go, to venture.
c1380Sir Ferumb. 3726 Ferrer ne draste þay noȝt for fere. 1660Gauden Brownrig 151 There is nothing so audacious which wit unsanctified will not..dare at in Heaven or Hell. 1697Dryden Virg. Past. vi. 6 Apollo..bade me feed My fatning Flocks, nor dare beyond the Reed.
II. trans. (Inflected dares, dared.)
3. To dare to undertake or do; to venture upon, have courage for, face.
1631May tr. Barclay's Mirr. Mindes ii. 135 To dare all things, but nothing too much. 1704Swift T. Tub xi, Should some sourer mongrel dare too near an approach. 1827Heber 1st Olympic Ode 145, I will dare the course. 1867M. E. Herbert Cradle L. iii. 110 To teach them fortitude that they might dare all things, and bear all things for their Lord.
4. To dare or venture to meet or expose oneself to, to run the risk of meeting; to meet defiantly, defy (a thing).
1602Shakes. Ham. iv. v. 133, I dare Damnation..onely Ile be reueng'd. 1611Heywood Gold. Age i. Wks. 1874 III. 7 A Crown's worth tugging for, and I wil ha't Though in pursute I dare my ominous Fate. 1645Quarles Sol. Recant. 23 O why should'st thou provoke thy God, and dare His curse upon thy practise? 1701Rowe Amb. Step-Moth. iv. i. 1738 If thou still persist to dare my Power. 1727–38Gay Fables i. xx. 36, I stand resolv'd, and dare the event. 1844Lingard Anglo-Sax. Ch. (1858) II. xiii. 260 He hesitated not to dare the resentment of the pontiff. 1853C. Brontë Villette vi, I saw and felt London at last..I dared the perils of the crossings.
5. a. To challenge or defy (a person).
1580Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 316 An English man..[cannot] suffer..to be dared by any. 1589Hay any Work 37 What wisedome is this in you to dare your betters? c1620Z. Boyd Zion's Flowers (1855) 138 A gyant tall, who darr'd him to his face. 1703Rowe Ulyss. i. i. 270 The Slave Who fondly dares us with his vain defiance. 1748Richardson Clarissa (1811) VIII. 395 Woman confiding in and daring woman. 1813Hogg Queen's Wake 190 To range the savage haunts, and dare In his dark home the sullen bear. 1886Harper's Mag. Dec. 105/2 Jabe Pennell begun to hunt him an' dare him. 1908L. M. Montgomery Anne of Green Gables xxiii. 254 All the silly things..were done..because the doers thereof were ‘dared’ to do them. 1969I. & P. Opie Children's Games ix. 264 Sometimes you're dared to go and tie the wifies' doors together.
b. With various const., e.g. to dare (a person) to do something, to the fight, etc., † to dare out.
1590Greene Orl. Fur. (1861) 92 With haughty menaces To dare me out within my palace gates. 1603Knolles Hist. Turks (1638) 148 He would..meet the Rebell in the heart of Lydia, and there dare him battell. 1606Shakes. Ant. & Cl. iii. xiii. 25, I dare him therefore To lay his gay Comparisons a-part. 1632Randolph Jeal. Lovers v. viii, I dare him to th' encounter. 1672Baxter Bagshaw's Scand. 11 As children dare one another into the dirt. 1785Burns Halloween xiv, I daur you try sic sportin. 1847Marryat Childr. N. Forest xvii, You wish to dare me to it—well, I won't be dared to anything. 1873Black Pr. Thule xxvii. 451 He knew she was daring him to contradict her.
III. dare say. [From sense 1.] a. properly. To be as bold as to say (because one is prepared to affirm it); to venture to assert or affirm.
a1300Cursor M. 4509 (Cott.) Bot i dar sai, and god it wat, ‘Qua leli luues for-gettes lat’. c1350Will. Palerne 1452, I dar seie & soþliche do proue, sche schal weld at wille more gold þan ȝe siluer. c1460Play Sacram. 316 Neyther mor or lesse Of dokettis good I dar well saye. 1540–54Croke 13 Ps. (Percy Soc.) 7 My sute is heard..I dare well saye. 1570–6Lambarde Peramb. Kent (1862) 311 No Towne nor Citie is there (I dare say) in this whole Shire comparable..with this one Fleete. 1614Bp. Hall Recoll. Treat. 759 Who devised your Office of Ministery? I dare say, not Christ. 1699Bentley Phal. 120 This I dare say is the best and neatest Explication..and..I believe it the truest.
b. transf. To venture to say (because one thinks it likely); to assume as probable, presume. Almost exclusively in the parenthetic ‘I dare say’; rarely in oblique narration, ‘he dared say’. (In this use now sometimes written as one word, with stress on the first syllable.)
Some dialects make the past daresaid, darsayed, dessayed.
1749Fielding Tom Jones vii. xii, You give your friend a very good character..and a very deserved one, I dare say. 1768Sterne Sent. Journ. I. 54 (The Letter), La Fleur..told me he had a letter in his pocket..which, he durst say, wd suit the occasion. 1807A. M. Porter Hungar. Bro. v, ‘Other women have admired you as much..I dare say’..‘O! if it's only a ‘dare say’’ cried Demetrius, shrugging up his shoulders. 1853Mrs. Carlyle Lett. II. 221, I daresay you have thought me very neglectful. 1885Sir C. S. C. Bowen Law Rep. 14 Q.B.D. 872, I daresay the rule was drafted without reference to the practice at common law.
▪ II. dare, v.2 Obs. or dial.|dɛə(r)|
Also 3 deare, 4 dere.
[OE. darian, app. in sense 3; to þam scræfe þær þa wiðersacan inne dariað behydde (ælfric Saints' Lives xxiii. 322). Perh. identical with the stem of MDu. and LG. bedaren to appease, abate, compose, calm, Flemish verdaren, verdarien to astonish, amaze; but the word has not been found in the earlier stages of the Teutonic langs., and the primary signification and sense-development are uncertain.]
I. intr.
†1. To gaze fixedly or stupidly; to stare as one terrified, amazed, or fascinated. Obs.
a1225Leg. Kath. 2048 Þe keiser..dearede al adeadet, druicninde & dreori. a1250Owl & Night. 384 Ich mai i-son so wel so on hare, Theȝ ich bi daie sitte an dare. c1350Will. Palerne 4055 Þe king was kast in gret þouȝt; he dared as doted man for þe bestes dedes. 1444Pol. Poems (Rolls) II. 218 The snayl goth lowe doun, Darythe in his shelle, yit may he se no sight. 1526Skelton Magnyf. 1358, I have an hoby can make larkys to dare. 1530Palsgr. 506/2, I dare, I prye or loke about me, je aduise alentour. What darest thou on this facyon? me thynketh thou woldest catche larkes. 1549Thomas Hist. Italie 96 The emperour..constreigned Henry Dandolo..to stande so longe daryng in an hotte basen, that he lost his sight.
†2. fig. To be in dismay, tremble with fear, lose heart. dread. Obs.
c1300Cursor M. 21870 (Edin.) For þe se sale rise and rute, mani man sal dere and dute. c1340Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 2258 For drede he wolde not dare. c1440York Myst. xxviii. 2 My flesshe dyderis and daris for doute of my dede. 1513Bradshaw St. Werburge i. 2654 Dredefully darynge comen now they be, Theyr wynges traylynge entred into the hall.
†3. To lie motionless (generally with the sense of fear), to lie appalled; to crouch. Also fig., esp. in droop and dare. Obs.
c1220Bestiary 406 Ne stereð ȝe [ðe fox] noȝt of ðe stede..oc dareð so ȝe ded were. a1225Juliana 42 Þenne darie we & ne durren neuer cumen biuoren him. c1386Chaucer Shipman's T. 103 Thise wedded men þat lye and dare As in a fourme sit a wery hare. c1420Anturs of Arth. iv, The dere in the dellun Thay droupun and daren. a1450Le Morte Arth. 2575 Knyghtis of kynges blode, That longe wylle not droupe and dare. a1500Chester Pl. (Shaks. Soc.) II. 148 (Date of MS. 1592), Builded thinges to grounde shall falle..And men in graves dare.
†4. To be hid, lie hid, lurk. Obs.
a1225Leg. Kath. 1135 Ȝef drihtin, þe darede in ure mennesse, wrahte þeos wundres. 1382Wyclif Mark vii. 24 And Jhesus..mighte not dare or be priuy [1388 be hid]. 14..Epiph. in Tundale's Vis. 107 The worm..Dareth full oft and kepeth hym covertly. c1430Lydg. Bochas iv. xvii. (1554) 117 b, Under floures lyke a serpent dare Til be may styng. c1440Hylton Scala Perf. (W. de W. 1494) i. lxiii, There is moche pryde hydde in the grounde of thyne herte, as the foxe dareth in his denne. c1440Promp. Parv. 113 Daryn, or drowpyn or prively to be hydde, latito, lateo.
†b. with indirect obj. (dative): To be hid from, escape, be unknown to.
1382Wyclif 2 Pet. iii. 5 It daarith hem [1388 it is hid fro hem] willinge this thing. Ibid. iii. 8 Oo thing daare ȝou not or be not unknowun. ― Acts xxvi. 26, I deme no thing of these for to dare him.
II. trans.
†5. To daze, paralyse, or render helpless, with the sight of something; to dazzle and fascinate. to dare larks, to fascinate and daze them, in order to catch them. (Cf. sense 1, quots. 1526–30, and daring vbl. n.2) Obs.
1547Hooper Answ. Bp. Winchester's Bk. Wks. (Parker Soc.) 203 Virtuous councillors, whose eyes cannot be dared with these manifest and open abominations. a1556Cranmer Wks. I. 107 Like unto men that dare larks, which hold up an hoby, that the larks' eyes being ever upon the hoby, should not see the net that is laid on their heads. 1602Warner Alb. Eng. x. xxxix. (1612) 256 The Spirit that for God himselfe was made, Was dared by the Flesh. 1613Shakes. Hen. VIII, iii. ii. 282 Let his Grace go forward, And dare vs with his Cap, like Larkes. 1621Fletcher Pilgrim i. i, Some costrell That hovers over her and dares her daily. 1671Temple Ess. Const. Empire Wks. 1731 I. 90 They think France will be dared, and never take Wing, while they see such a Naval Power as ours and the Dutch hovering about all their Coasts. 1860Sala in Cornh. Mag. II. 239 A ‘dare’ for larks or circular board with pieces of looking-glass inserted, used in sunshiny days, for the purpose of daring or dazing larks from their high soaring flight to within a distance convenient for shooting or netting them.
†6. To daunt, terrify, paralyse with fear. Now dial.
1611Beaum. & Fl. Maid's Trag. iv. i, For I have done those follies, those mad mischiefs, Would dare a woman. 1627Drayton Agincourt 97 Clifford whom no danger yet could dare. 1778Gloss. Exmoor Scolding (ed. 9), Dere, to hurry, frighten, or astonish a Child. s.v. Thir, Dere, a Word commonly used by Nurses in Devonshire, signifying to frighten or hurry a Child out of his senses. 1864E. Capern Devon Provinc., To dare, to frighten. He dare'd me, he surprized me, I was dare'd, I was surprized.
Hence dared ppl. a.
a1400–50Alexander 3044 Selcuth kniȝtis, Sum darid [Dubl. MS, dasyd], sum dede, sum depe wondid. 1563Homilies ii. Idolatry iii. (1859) 252 They become as wise as the blocks themselves which they stare on, and so fall down as dared larks in that gaze. 1678Dryden Œdipus i. i, Then cowered like a dared lark.
▪ III. dare, v.3
obs. var. dere., to injure, hurt.
▪ IV. dare, n.1|dɛə(r)|
Also 6 darre.
[f. dare v.1]
1. An act of daring or defying; a defiance, challenge. Now colloq.
1594First Pt. Contention v, Card. Euen when thou darest. Hu. Dare. I tell thee Priest, Plantagenets could neuer brooke the dare. 1600Heywood 2 Edw. IV Wks. 1874 I. 96 His defiance and his dare to warre. 1606Shakes. Ant. & Cl. i. ii. 191 Sextus Pompeius Hath giuen the dare to Cæsar. 1688Bunyan Dying Sayings Wks. 1767 I. 48 Sin is the dare of God's justice. 1892R. H. Davis Van Bibber 87, ‘I didn't suppose you'd take a dare like that, Van Bibber’, said one of the men. 1897Kipling Capt. Cour. viii. 161 In a minute half the boats were out and bobbing in the cockly swells, but Troop kept the We're Heres at work dressing-down. He saw no sense in ‘dares’. 1959I. & P. Opie Lore & Lang. Schoolch. xi. 230 To give themselves guts when accepting a dare.
†2. Daring, boldness. Now rare or Obs.
1595Markham Sir R. Grinvile lxxvii, And yet, then these my darre shall be no lesse. 1596Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, iv. i. 78 It lends..A larger Dare to your great Enterprize. 1904H. R. Martin Tillie 13, I would love to play in the evening if I had the dare.
▪ V. dare, n.2|dɛə(r)|
[f. dare v.2]
A contrivance for ‘daring’ or fascinating larks.
1860Sala Hogarth in Cornh. Mag. II. 239 note, The ‘dare’ I have seen resembles a cocked hat, or chapeau bras, in form, and is studded with bits of looking-glass, not convex, but cut in facets inwards, like the theatrical ornament cast in zinc, and called a ‘logie’. The setting is painted bright red, and the facets turn on pivots, and being set in motion by a string attached to the foot, the larks are sufficiently ‘dared’ and come quite over the fascinating toy. 1888Athenæum 28 Jan. 122/1 The dare for larks, or mirror surrounded by smaller ones, over the mantel-piece, which exercised many commentators [Hogarth's Distressed Poet].
▪ VI. † dare, n.3 Obs.
Also 5 dar.
[A singular formed on dars, OF. dars, darz, pl. of dart, dard dart, dace. The OF. pl. dars and nom. sing. dars became in Eng. darse, darce, dace.]
= dace.
[1314in Wardrobe Acc. 8 Edw. II, 21/12 Dars roches et pik 2s. 8d.] c1475Pict. Vocab. in Wr.-Wülcker 763/36 Hic capita, a dar. 1622Drayton Poly-olb. xxvi, The pretty slender dare, of many call'd the dace. 1708Motteux Rabelais i. iii, As large as a Dare-Fish of Loire. 1740R. Brookes Art of Angling i. xxiii. 60 The Dace or Dare..is not unlike a Chub.
▪ VII. † dare, darre, n.4 Obs.
[Cf. F. dare, ‘a huge big bellie; also, Dole’ (Cotgr.).]
? A portion (or some definite portion).
1528Papers of Earls of Cumbrld. in Whitaker Hist. Craven (1812) 308 Item, for herbes five dares..for yeast, five dares. 1601F. Tate Househ. Ord. Edw. II, §2 (1876) 6 His livere..shalbe a darre of bredde. Ibid. §9 He may take two darres of bred.
▪ VIII. dare
(= dar), darh, var. of thar v., need. |