DARE

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does dare mean? 

• DARE (noun)
  The noun DARE has 1 sense:

1. a challenge to do something dangerous or foolhardy

  Familiarity information: DARE used as a noun is very rare.

• DARE (verb)
  The verb DARE has 3 senses:

1. take upon oneself; act presumptuously, without permission

2. to be courageous enough to try or do something

3. challenge

  Familiarity information: DARE used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• DARE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A challenge to do something dangerous or foolhardy

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

dare; daring

Context example:

he could never refuse a dare

Hypernyms ("dare" is a kind of...):

challenge (a call to engage in a contest or fight)

Derivation:

dare (challenge)

dare (to be courageous enough to try or do something)

• DARE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they dare    ... he / she / it dares   
Past simple: dared   
Past participle: dared   
-ing form: daring   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Take upon oneself; act presumptuously, without permission

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Synonyms:

dare; make bold; presume

Context example:

How dare you call my lawyer?

Hypernyms (to "dare" is one way to...):

act; move (perform an action, or work out or perform (an action))

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s INFINITIVE

Sense 2

Meaning:

To be courageous enough to try or do something

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Context example:

she dares to dress differently from the others

Hypernyms (to "dare" is one way to...):

act; move (perform an action, or work out or perform (an action))

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s INFINITIVE

Derivation:

dare (a challenge to do something dangerous or foolhardy)

daring (the trait of being willing to undertake things that involve risk or danger)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Challenge

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

dare; defy

Context example:

I dare you!

Hypernyms (to "dare" is one way to...):

challenge (issue a challenge to)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "dare"):

brazen (face with defiance or impudence)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Somebody ----s somebody to INFINITIVE

Sentence example:

They dare him to write the letter

Derivation:

dare; daring (a challenge to do something dangerous or foolhardy)

 Context examples 

Aunt March, how dare you say such a thing?

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

And do I dare to ask of you to undertake my pilgrimage, to endure the hardships that I have undergone?

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

He had indeed in thought dared too far.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

“Sir,” said I, “upon my word I dare not.”

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

They were meat, and it was hungry; and it would like to go in and eat them if it dared.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

I dare say you would, Peggotty.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Go into the garden and dig where I tell you, and you will find the yellow buttons: I dare not go myself.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

I dare say now if I were to ask you for a kiss you wouldn't give it me: you'd say you'd rather not.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

You will see them both this morning, I dare say.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

I didn’t dare to disobey him.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)