Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Dare \Dare\, v. i. [imp. {Durst}or {Dared}; p. p. {Dared}; p.
   pr. & vb. n. {Daring}.] [OE. I dar, dear, I dare, imp.
   dorste, durste, AS. ic dear I dare, imp. dorste. inf. durran;
   akin to OS. gidar, gidorsta, gidurran, OHG. tar, torsta,
   turran, Goth. gadar, gada['u]rsta, Gr. tharsei^n, tharrei^n,
   to be bold, tharsy`s bold, Skr. Dhrsh to be bold. [root]70.]
   To have adequate or sufficient courage for any purpose; to be
   bold or venturesome; not to be afraid; to venture.

         I dare do all that may become a man; Who dares do more
         is none.                                 --Shak.

         Why then did not the ministers use their new law?
         Bacause they durst not, because they could not.
                                                  --Macaulay.

         Who dared to sully her sweet love with suspicion.
                                                  --Thackeray.

         The tie of party was stronger than the tie of blood,
         because a partisan was more ready to dare without
         asking why.                              --Jowett
                                                  (Thu?yd.).

   Note: The present tense, I dare, is really an old past tense,
         so that the third person is he dare, but the form he
         dares is now often used, and will probably displace the
         obsolescent he dare, through grammatically as incorrect
         as he shalls or he cans. --Skeat.

               The pore dar plede (the poor man dare plead).
                                                  --P. Plowman.

               You know one dare not discover you. --Dryden.

               The fellow dares not deceive me.   --Shak.

               Here boldly spread thy hands, no venom'd weed
               Dares blister them, no slimy snail dare creep.
                                                  --Beau. & Fl.

   Note: Formerly durst was also used as the present. Sometimes
         the old form dare is found for durst or dared.

Dare \Dare\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Dared}; p. pr. & vb. n.
   {Daring}.]
   1. To have courage for; to attempt courageously; to venture
      to do or to undertake.

            What high concentration of steady feeling makes men
            dare every thing and do anything?     --Bagehot.

            To wrest it from barbarism, to dare its solitudes.
                                                  --The Century.

   2. To challenge; to provoke; to defy.

            Time, I dare thee to discover Such a youth and such
            a lover.                              --Dryden.

Daring \Dar"ing\, n.
   Boldness; fearlessness; adventurousness; also, a daring act.

Daring \Dar"ing\, a.
   Bold; fearless; adventurous; as, daring spirits. --
   {Dar"ing*ly}, adv. -- {Dar"ing*ness}, n.

Source : WordNet®

daring
     adj 1: disposed to venture or take risks; "audacious visions of the
            total conquest of space"; "an audacious interpretation
            of two Jacobean dramas"; "the most daring of
            contemporary fiction writers"; "a venturesome
            investor"; "a venturous spirit" [syn: {audacious}, {venturesome},
             {venturous}]
     2: radically new or original; "an avant-garde theater piece"
        [syn: {avant-garde}]

daring
     n 1: a challenge to do something dangerous or foolhardy; "he
          could never refuse a dare" [syn: {dare}]
     2: the trait of being willing to undertake things that involve
        risk or danger; "the proposal required great boldness"
        [syn: {boldness}, {hardihood}] [ant: {timidity}]