dare

Less common meanings

5. 5
   defiant attitudenouncountable

   Defiance, or an act or attitude that challenges someone.

   Her steady gaze held a dare that made the manager hesitate.

   He wore the banned jacket to school as an open dare to the new dress code.

   Similarchallenge, provocation

   Note

   Defiance flung at a rival, often in the phrase give the dare to. Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra has Sextus Pompeius, who 'hath given the dare to Caesar', and George Chapman's Iliad speaks of 'childish, unworthy dares.' It shades into the playground challenge but carries more weight: an open provocation between powers rather than a test of nerve. Source

   Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 3 facts

   • The noun can mean defiance or challenge, including in the construction 'give the dare to'. en.wiktionary.org
   • Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra contains the quoted words about Sextus Pompeius; Antony speaks them, rather than Pompeius. socrates.acadiau.ca
   • George Chapman's translation of the Iliad contains 'childish, unworthy dares', with punctuation varying between editions. gutenberg.org
6. 6
   strike fearverbobsoletetransitive

   To terrify or daunt someone.

   For I have done those follies, those mad mischiefs, Would dare a woman.

   c. 1608, Francis Beaumont, John Fletcher

   Similardaunt, terrify, intimidate, frighten, cow

   Oppositeembolden, reassure

   Note

   The verb turned inside out: the subject supplies the fear instead of overcoming it. In Beaumont and Fletcher's The Maid's Tragedy, follies and mad mischiefs 'would dare a woman', that is, daunt her. Modern readers easily misread such lines as a challenge, so check whether the object ends up bolder or cowed. The fowler's daring of larks puts this frightening sense to practical use. Source

   Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 5 facts

   • The verb has a transitive sense meaning to terrify or daunt. en.wiktionary.org
   • The Maid's Tragedy is attributed to Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher. en.wikisource.org
   • The quoted wording occurs in The Maid's Tragedy, spoken by Evadne about her own actions. en.wikisource.org
   • The quotation exemplifies 'dare' meaning to daunt. en.wiktionary.org
   • Daring larks involved frightening them so that they could be caught. en.wiktionary.org
7. 7
   scare larksverbarchaictransitive

   To drive larks to the ground by frightening them (for example with mirrors or hawks) so that they can be caught in nets.

   I have an hobby can make larks to dare

   1516, John Skelton, Magnificence

   Note

   Fowling vocabulary, archaic now and met almost only in old texts. John Skelton's Magnificence (written about 1516) boasts 'I have an hobby can make larks to dare'. A hobby is a small falcon, and in that line the larks themselves do the daring, cowering beneath it. Shakespeare and Fletcher turn it into a figure: 'dare us with his cap, like larks.' Outside historical writing, the word needs a gloss. Source

   Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 9 facts

   • Dare belongs to historical fowling vocabulary involving hobbies or mirrors. pure.uva.nl
   • John Skelton wrote Magnificence. otago.ac.nz
   • About 1516 is an estimated composition date for Magnificence. otago.ac.nz
   • Magnificence contains the quoted boast, with modernized spelling; the speaker is Crafty Conveyance. otago.ac.nz
   • The quoted line has the stated wording in modernized spelling. otago.ac.nz
   • A hobby is a small falcon. wildlifetrusts.org
   • The larks perform the intransitive action dare, meaning to crouch in fear. en.wiktionary.org
   • Shakespeare and Fletcher jointly wrote the play containing the lark comparison. en.wikipedia.org
   • Surrey says 'And dare us with his cap, like larks.' in Henry VIII, Act 3, scene 2. The item silently omits 'with his cap'. folger.edu
8. 8
   stareverbobsolete

   To gaze with a vacant or foolish look, as if dumbfounded or terrified.

   Note

   A separate word that merely shares the spelling: Middle English daren, from Old English darian, unrelated to the durran behind the courage verb. Being obsolete, it turns up only in old texts, where a man who dares may be gaping in stupefied fear rather than showing nerve. Read the context first. In modern writing, it would simply be misunderstood. Source

   Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 4 facts

   • The gaze verb and the courage verb have distinct etymological sources. pure.uva.nl
   • The gaze verb descends from Middle English daren and Old English darian. en.wiktionary.org
   • The courage verb descends from Old English durran. en.wiktionary.org
   • Historical dare can mean to gaze stupidly or as though terrified. en.wiktionary.org
9. 9
   cowerverbobsolete

   To cower, lying low or crouching out of fear.

   Note

   A separate word that only shares the spelling: Middle English daren, from Old English darian, not the durran behind the courage verb. It names a hunted animal pressing itself flat and still, like a hare in a furrow or deer in bracken. Fowlers exploited this crouch when daring larks into nets. Now obsolete, it reverses modern expectation: a hare that dared froze in fear rather than acting boldly. Source

   Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 3 facts

   • The crouching verb derives from Middle English daren and Old English darian, separately from the courage verb derived from durran. en.wiktionary.org
   • Fowlers exploited larks' immobilization to catch them in nets, a practice called daring larks. pure.uva.nl
   • In this obsolete sense, a hare that dared would be crouching in fear. en.wiktionary.org
10. 10
    noundialectal

    A small freshwater fish, the dace.

    The Dare is not unlike a Chub, but proportionably less; his Body is more white and flatter, and his Tail more forked.

    1766, Richard Brookes, The art of angling