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dare

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verb American English pronunciation: dare /der/ 
Word Forms
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present tense
I/you/we/theydare
he/she/itdares
present participledaring
past tensedared
past participledared
Dare can be used in the following ways:
as an intransitive verb (followed by an infinitive with "to"): He doesn't dare to complain. (without a following infinitive): She never went there on her own – she didn't dare to.
in very formal speech or writing as a modal verb (followed by an infinitive without "to"): No one dared speak. (without a following infinitive): Fight him if you dare. When dare is a modal verb, the third person singular of the present tense does not end in "-s." When dare is a modal verb, negatives and questions are formed without "do": Dare he tell her the truth? ♦ He dare not lie.
as a transitive verb (with an object usually followed by an infinitive with "to"): Someone dared him to climb the tree.
 
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Related dictionary definitions

  1. 1
    [intransitive] [never progressive] if you dare to do something, you are not afraid to do it, even though it may be dangerous or shocking or may cause trouble for you

    Larry argue with the boss? He wouldn't dare.

    I drove as fast as I dared.

    dare to do something:

    Andrei Sakharov was one of the few people who dared to protest.

    dare do something:

    Neither of the superpowers would have dared use nuclear weapons.

    hardly dare:

    I hardly dare to go into the room without first getting permission.

    Thesaurus entry for this meaning of dare
  2. 2
    [transitive] [never passive] to try to persuade someone to prove that they are not afraid to do something that is dangerous or likely to cause trouble
    I dare you:

    Go on, call the police. I dare you.

    dare someone to do something:

    The older boys dared Jimmy to go up on the roof.

    Thesaurus entry for this meaning of dare

phrases

This is the American English definition of dare. View British English definition of dare.

Change your default dictionary and thesaurus to British English.

View the pronunciation for dare.

 

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