dare
/dɛː
/verb (third singular present usually dare before an expressed or implied infinitive)
1 (as modal usually with infinitive with or without to often with negative) Have the courage to do something: a story he dare not write down she leaned forward as far as she dared...
- He went on air on a Sunday afternoon and captivated his audience for three hours, nobody daring to ‘switch that dial’ as he would say himself!
- I did receive a kind note from a visitor who thanked me for my courage, and for daring to portray Mary in that way.
- In a society of individualists nobody dare admit to being a conformist.
Synonyms
be brave enough, have the courage, pluck up courage, take the risk;
venture, have the nerve, have the temerity, make so bold as, be so bold as, have the effrontery, have the audacity, presume, go so far as;
risk doing, hazard doing, take the liberty of doing
informal stick one's neck out, go out on a limb
North American informal take a flyer
archaic make bold to
1.1 (how dare you) Used to express indignation at something: how dare you talk to me like that!...
- How dare you try to make me feel selfish and isolationist when I am grieving?
- That is not true and you know it… how dare you even say that about me.
- How dare you to interfere where you don't belong?
1.2 (don't you dare) Used to order someone threateningly not to do something: don’t you dare touch me...
- And don't you dare to say my sister isn't pretty!
- But whatever it is I'm threatening to do, don't you dare think I won't follow through on it.
- I didn't choose him and don't you dare ever bring him up again.
2 [with object and infinitive] Defy or challenge (someone) to do something: she was daring him to disagree [with object]: swap with me, I dare you...
- He looked straight into Heero's eyes, daring him to challenge what he was about to say next.
- Caitlin raised her eyebrows, daring him to disagree.
- Jonathon's tepid gaze defied her, dared her to lose her temper.
Synonyms
challenge, provoke, goad, taunt, defy, summon, invite, bid;
throw down the gauntlet to
3 [with object] literary Take the risk of; brave: few dared his wrath...
- She had never been brave enough to dare even a tame ride around the temple grounds on its back after that.
- Her dance instructor was one of the few who dared the wrath of the king, and spoke to the young girl, whom he pitied.
- Even now, interviewed thirty years later, the wife yells at the husband for daring the wrath of these wiseguys.
noun
A challenge, especially to prove courage: she ran across a main road for a dare...
- His start came at the tender age of 18 when he began performing stand-up comedy on a dare from his University dorm mates.
- No doubt someone will tell us the design meets the necessary standards, but if so, the standards do not recognise what children will do for a dare.
- Take on a dare, and demonstrate that you don't always take yourself so seriously.
Synonyms
challenge, provocation, goad, taunt;
gauntlet, invitation, ultimatum, summons
Phrases
I dare say (or daresay)
Derivatives
darer
- Midas uses Tamburlainian imagery to describe how he will wish for gold and thus be ‘monarch of the world, the darer of fortune’.
- Though the other darers have been unwavering pillars of support, I admit I was a bit surprised and mildly dismayed at the total lack of support from other areas.
- Whenever and wherever possible, let's take time to salute and support America's small businesses and the entrepreneurial dreamers, darers and doers who run them.
Origin
Old English durran, of Germanic origin; related to Gothic gadaursan, from an Indo-European root shared by Greek tharsein and Sanskrit dhṛṣ- 'be bold'.
This is a word with the deepest roots, related to forms in Greek and in Sanskrit, the ancient language of India. It originally meant ‘to have the courage to do something’. By the late 16th century there also existed the sense ‘to challenge or defy someone’, which is the meaning behind daredevil (late 18th century), a contraction of ‘someone ready to dare the devil’. This sort of formation is also seen in cut-throat (mid 16th century) and scarecrow (mid 16th century).