stare

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“
I'm currently sat here staring at it, as I'm convinced my stare is the only thing holding up at the moment.

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Definitions (29)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (9)

  1. intransitive verb To look directly and fixedly, often with a wide-eyed gaze. See Synonyms at gaze.
  2. intransitive verb To be conspicuous; stand out.
  3. intransitive verb To stand on end; bristle, as hair or feathers.
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Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (13)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (4)

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Examples (50)

  • Perhaps we here in the United States should not be extravagant if we set up also a claim for Daniel Webster; but, however firm our faith, and however solid our justification, we should be met with a silent stare from the French and the Italians and the Spaniards, who might fail even to recognize Webster's name. —  Inquiries and Opinions
  • The ignorant reader (between whom and the former the distinction is extremely nice) will find himself disposed to stare, which is an admirable remedy for ill eyes, serves to raise and enliven the spirits, and wonderfully helps perspiration. —  English Satires
  • All the day stare--stare. —  Noughts and Crosses Stories, Studies and Sketches
  • They stop you in a sentiment by a question or a stare, and cut you short in a narrative by the time of night. —  The Spirit of the Age Contemporary Portraits
  • Gazing into the darkness, she knew that her stare was apelike. —  Hilda Lessways
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This word has been looked up 133 times.

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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

gaze ·  grin ·  look ·  glare ·  nod ·  countenance ·  scrutiny ·  whisper ·  gesture ·  silence ·  gleam ·  curiosity

Used in the same contextWord Family

stare:   stares ·  stared ·  staring
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (6)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English staren, from Old English starian; see ster-1 in Indo-European roots.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (5)

  1. from Middle English staren, from Anglo-Saxon starian = Old High German starēn, Middle High German staren, German starren, stare, = Icelandic stara, stare (cf. German stieren = Icelandic stira = Swedish stirra = Danish stirre, stare); connected with starblind, and perhaps with D. staar = German starr, fixed, rigid (cf. German stier, storr, stiff, fixed); cf. Greek στερεός, fixed, solid, Sanskrit sthira, fixed, firm.
  2. from stare, v.
  3. from (a) Middle English stare, ster, from Anglo-Saxon stær = Old High German stara, Middle High German star, German star, staar, stahr = Icelandic starri, stari = Swedish stare = Danish stær; (b) also Anglo-Saxon stearn = German dial. starn, staren, storn = Latin sturnus (later Italian storno, storo), diminutive sturnellus (later Old French estournel, French étourneau), sturninus (later Spanish estornino = Portuguese estorninho), starling; cf. Greek ψάρ, New Greek ψαρόνι, ψαρόνιον, starling.
  4. Cf. Dutch staar = German starr, stiff: see stare.
  5. Formerly also starr; origin obscure.
 

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/stɛr/
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