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Nearby words

  1. starch-reduced,
  2. starched,
  3. starchy,
  4. stardom,
  5. stardust,
  6. stare decisis,
  7. stare down,
  8. stare in the face,
  9. stare out,
  10. starets

Idioms

    stare one in the face, to be urgent or impending; confront: The income-tax deadline is staring us in the face.

Origin of stare

before 900; Middle English staren, Old English starian; cognate with Dutch staren, German starren, Old Norse stara; akin to stark, starve
SYNONYMS FOR stare
1. See gaze.
Related formsstar·er, nounstar·ing·ly, adverb
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
British Dictionary definitions for stare down

stare

1
/ (stɛə) /

verb

(intr often foll by at) to look or gaze fixedly, often with hostility or rudeness
(intr) (of an animal's fur, bird's feathers, etc) to stand on end because of fear, ill health, etc
(intr) to stand out as obvious; glare
stare one in the face to be glaringly obvious or imminent

noun

the act or an instance of staring
Derived Formsstarer, noun

Word Origin for stare

Old English starian; related to Old Norse stara, Old High German starēn to stare, Greek stereos stiff, Latin consternāre to confuse

stare

2
/ (stɛə) /

noun

dialect a starling

Word Origin for stare

Old English stær
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for stare down
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Idioms and Phrases with stare down

stare down

Cause someone to waver or give in by or as if by being stared at. For example, Insisting on a better room, he stared down the manager until he got it. This expression alludes to staring at someone without being the first to blink or lower one's gaze. [Mid-1800s]

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.