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stare definition

stare (ster)

intransitive verb stared, staring star′·ing

  1. to gaze or look steadily with eyes wide open, as in fear, admiration, wonder, incomprehension, etc.
  2. Now Rare
    1. to stand out conspicuously staring bones
    2. to stand on end, as hair

Etymology: ME staren < OE starian, akin to ON stara < Gmc *stara-, having fixed eyes, rigid < IE base *(s)ter-, rigid, stiff > stark, Gr strēnēs, hard

transitive verb

  1. to look fixedly at to stare a person up and down
  2. to affect in a given way by staring to stare someone into confusion

noun

the act of staring; steady or vacant look or gaze

Related Forms:

stare Idioms

stare down

to stare back at (another) until the gaze of the one stared at is turned away

stare someone in the face

  1. to look at someone steadily and intently
  2. to be imminent, pressing, or inescapable

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

stare Synonyms

stare

v.

gaze, gawk, look fixedly; see look 2, watch 1.


Webster's New World Roget's A-Z Thesaurus Copyright © 1999 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

stare Usage Examples

Adjective modifier

  • glassy: The Tiber sends back a glassy stare in the darkness.

Modifies a noun

  • decisis: The leading authority on the doctrine of stare decisis under the law of England is Cross and Harris on precedent in English Law.

Noun used with modifier

  • nativity: Created substitute programs to child's nativity stares quot cases were in the book.

Preposition: in

  • awe: She stared in awe at the vision her eyes were transfixed upon.

Followed by an intransitive particle

  • across: After a while, I went out on to the balcony and stared across at the club and the buildings that lay beyond it.
stare usage examples (more)

The word usage examples above have been gathered from various sources to reflect current and historical usage. They do not represent the opinions of YourDictionary.com.

stare quotes

What is this life if, full of care, We have no time to stand and stare?

-Davies,W(illiam) H(enry)

   Any one watching keenly the stealthy convergence of human lots, sees a slow preparation of effects from one life on another, which tells like a calculated irony on the indifference or the frozen stare with which we look at our unintroduced neighbour.

-Eliot, George pseudonym of  MaryAnn Evans

I Tiresias, old man with wrinkled dugs Perceived the scene, and foretold the restö I too awaited the expected guest. He, the young man carbuncular, arrives, A small house agent's clerk, with one bold stare, One of the low on whom assurance sits As a silk hat on a Bradford millionaire.

-Eliot,T(homas) S(tearns)

stare quotes (more)

Webster's New World Dictionary of Quotations Copyright © 2005 by Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. Published by Wiley, Hoboken, NJ. Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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"stare." Webster's New World College Dictionary. 2009

  • Your Dictionary. 5 July 2009
  • <www.yourdictionary.com/stare>

APA Style

stare. (2009). In Webster's New World College Dictionary

  • Retrieved July 5th, 2009, from www.yourdictionary.com/stare

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