dare
verb
\ ˈder
\
\
dared;
daring;
dares
or (auxiliary) dare
Definition of dare
(Entry 1 of 4)
: to be sufficiently courageous to
no one dared say a word she dare not let herself love— G. B. Shaw
: to have sufficient courage
try it if you dare
1a
: to challenge to perform an action especially as a proof of courage
dared him to jump
2
: to have the courage to contend against, venture, or try
the actress dared a new interpretation of the classic role
dare
nounDefinition of dare (Entry 2 of 4)
1
: an act or instance of daring (see dare entry 1 sense 1) : challenge
crossed the river on a dare refused to take the dare
2
: imaginative or vivacious boldness : daring
DARE
abbreviationDefinition of DARE (Entry 3 of 4)
Dictionary of American Regional English
Dare
biographical name
\ ˈder
\
\
Definition of Dare (Entry 4 of 4)
Virginia 1587–? 1st child born in America of English parents
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Other Words from dare
Verb
darer
\ ˈder-ər
\
noun
\
noun
Examples of dare in a Sentence
Verb
Try it if you dare. We wanted to laugh but didn't dare. The actress dared a new interpretation of the classic role. She dared him to dive off the bridge. She dared me to ask him out on a date. I did, and he said yes.
Recent Examples on the Web: Verb
She and Shuangjie stole glances at each other but didn’t dare look each other straight in the eye. — Los Angeles Times, "One is Chinese. One is American. How a journalist discovered and reunited identical twins," 8 Aug. 2019 But without a proper ID, Sanjuana didn’t dare get close to the Falfurrias checkpoint, the last place where her oldest son had been seen. — Obed Manuel, Dallas News, "U.S. citizen’s detention is a reminder that mixed-status families can feel trapped along the border," 4 Aug. 2019 Just don't dare to ask Katzenberg about Quibi plans to fit into the packed streaming economy. — Aric Jenkins, Fortune, "Jeffrey Katzenberg Is Not Interested in Your Skepticism About Quibi," 16 July 2019 In the corridors, the Sox sold hard booze from portable bars, something Tiger Stadium didn’t dare do. — Joe Lapointe, Detroit Free Press, "40 years ago, Disco Demolition Night stirred culture war still being fought," 12 July 2019 The festival, which started in 1976, is bringing wacky comedy shows, unique music performances, daring jousts, acrobatics, hypnotics and even big cats to 10 stages around the 30-acre festival grounds, located 30 minutes south of Denver in Larkspur. — Kaitlyn Bancroft, The Know, "Hear ye, hear ye! Make haste to the Colorado Renaissance Festival," 18 June 2019 After a half century of disappointment, even Mother Nature didn’t dare spoil the celebration of St. Louis’ first Stanley Cup championship. — Jim Salter, chicagotribune.com, "Blues fans pack downtown St. Louis to celebrate the Stanley Cup champions," 15 June 2019 And, do not dare leave town without visiting The Bryan Museum with its 70,000-piece rare collection of historical artifacts, documents and artwork relating to the American West. — Houston Chronicle, "Experience Galveston Island in unique ways this summer," 14 June 2019 Discussions take time and frightened employees do not dare turn up at the plantations. — The Economist, "Eastern Congo has the world’s largest quinine plantations," 8 June 2019Recent Examples on the Web: Noun
One side will be labeled with a truth which must be answered, or a dare which must be performed. — Lisa Herendeen, The Mercury News, "10 awesome Burning Man things to do on Day 2, Aug. 26," 5 Aug. 2019 Double dare: Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan, who is running for president, thinks Republican President Donald Trump views impeachment hearings as politically advantageous, per USA Today. — cleveland.com, "Ohio budget deal due this week: Capitol Letter," 24 June 2019 Sam, from Sydney’s north shore, fell ill from the slug dare and was taken to Royal North Shore Hospital, where he was diagnosed as having been infected with rat lungworm. — Fox News, "Teen disabled on a dare after swallowing slug leans on family, friends," 2 Apr. 2018 As What/If is Zellweger’s first episodic show, the whole shoot felt like her own personal dare—a rehearsal nut shooting a pilot before the series finale had even been written. — Amy Nicholson, Town & Country, "What/If Made Renée Zellweger "Uncomfortable" And She Loved It," 24 May 2019 The Problem With Random Growth Sheffield and Miller began collaborating thanks to a kind of dare. — Quanta Magazine, "A Unified Theory of Randomness," 2 Aug. 2016 But on a dare, she and a friend ventured into the shed and painted each wasp with a different identifying dot of paint, the standard preparation for studying the social dynamics of an insect colony. — Quanta Magazine, "The Woman Who Stared at Wasps," 5 Nov. 2015 When that dare got old, Shields simply started carrying the gold medal with her and flashed it to her skeptics. — Dan Gelston, The Seattle Times, "Shields wants to lift women’s boxing into mainstream," 12 Apr. 2019 The truths were just as wild as the dares and these actors were more than ready to play. — Allie Gemmill, Teen Vogue, ""On My Block" Stars Play Teen Vogue's "I Dare You"," 5 Apr. 2019These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'dare.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for dare
dare
verb
English Language Learners Definition of dare
(Entry 1 of 2)
: to have enough courage or confidence to do something : to not be too afraid to do something
: to do (something that is difficult or that people are usually afraid to do)
: to tell (someone) to do something especially as a way of showing courage