Emily Dickinson Lexicon

DARE, v.t. [pret. and pp. dared.]

To challenge; to provoke; to defy; as, to dare a man to fight. Time, I dare thee to discover. Such a youth, and such a lover. – Dryden. To dare larks, to catch them by means of a looking-glass, or by keeping a bird of prey hovering aloft, which keeps them in amaze till caught; to terrify or amaze. – Johnson. Dryden.