*dare*

v. i. [ imp. Durst r Dared p. p. Dared; p. pr. & vb. n. Daring. ] [ OE. 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. tharsei^n, tharrei^n, to be bold, tharsy`s bold, Skr. 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

I dare do all that may become a man; Who dares do more is none. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Why then did not the ministers use their new law? Bacause they durst not, because they could not. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

Who dared to sully her sweet love with suspicion. Thackeray. [ 1913 Webster ]

The tie of party was stronger than the tie of blood, because a partisan was more ready to dare without asking why. Jowett (Thu&unr_;yd.). [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

The pore dar plede (the poor man dare plead). P. Plowman. [ 1913 Webster ]

You know one dare not discover you. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

The fellow dares not deceive me. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Here boldly spread thy hands, no venom'd weed
Dares blister them, no slimy snail dare creep. Beau. & Fl. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ Formerly durst was also used as the present. Sometimes the old form dare is found for durst or dared. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

What high concentration of steady feeling makes men dare every thing and do anything? Bagehot. [ 1913 Webster ]

To wrest it from barbarism, to dare its solitudes. The Century. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To challenge; to provoke; to defy. [ 1913 Webster ]

Time, I dare thee to discover
Such a youth and such a lover. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. The quality of daring; venturesomeness; boldness; dash. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

It lends a luster . . .
A large dare to our great enterprise. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Defiance; challenge. [ 1913 Webster ]

Childish, unworthy dares
Are not enought to part our powers. Chapman. [ 1913 Webster ]

Sextus Pompeius
Hath given the dare to Cæsar. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ OE. darien, to lie hidden, be timid. ] To lurk; to lie hid. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To terrify; to daunt. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

For I have done those follies, those mad mischiefs,
Would dare a woman. Beau. & Fl. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ See Dace. ] (Zool.) A small fish; the dace. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A reckless fellow. Also used adjectively; as, dare-devil excitement. [ 1913 Webster ]

A humorous dare-devil -- the very man
To suit my prpose. Ld. Lytton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n; pl. Dare-deviltries Reckless mischief; the action of a dare-devil. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Full of daring or of defiance; adventurous. [ R. ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who dares or defies.

v. t. To surpass in daring; to overcome by courage; to brave. Shak. R. Browning. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. & i. To dare too much or rashly; to be too daring. [ 1913 Webster ]