dare

dare1 [ der ] verb **

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.

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.

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.

dare (to) hope/dream/believe usually in negatives

if you dare not hope, dream, or believe that something will happen or is true, you think it is very unlikely, but you would really like it to happen:

I never dared dream that peace would come so soon.

The work was finished much sooner than he'd ever dared to hope.

dare I say (it) MAINLY BRITISH SPOKEN FORMAL

used when you are saying something that you think other people may not like

don't you dare SPOKEN

used for telling someone not to do something, when you are warning them that you will be very angry if they do it:

I'll tell Susan what you said about her. Don't you dare!

don't you dare do something: Don't you dare come near me!

hardly dare (to) breathe

to feel extremely nervous or worried about something that is happening or is going to happen

how dare you SPOKEN

used for telling someone how shocked and angry you are about something they have done or said:

Were you ever involved with this woman? How dare you! I'm a respectable married man.

how dare you do something: How dare you go into my room without asking me!

I dare say BRITISH SPOKEN

used for saying that something is probably true, although you do not know for certain

dare

dare 2 [ der ] noun count usually singular

an attempt to persuade someone to do something dangerous in order to prove that they are brave:

Why don't you fight him? Is that a dare?

on a dare: When he was 14, he had stayed out all night on a dare.