Adjacent Words

Stare definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

STARE, n. A bird, the starling.
STARE, v.i. The sense then is to open or extend, and it seems to be closely allied to G., stiff, and to starch, stern, which imply straining, tension.]
1. To gaze; to look with fixed eyes wide open; to fasten an earnest look on some object. Staring is produced by wonder, surprise, stupidity, horror, fright and sometimes by eagerness to hear or learn something, sometimes by impudence. We say, he stared with astonishment.
Look not big, nor stare, nor fret.
2. To stand out; to be prominent.
Take off all the staring straws and jaggs in the hive. [Not used.]
To stare in the face, to be before the eyes or undeniably evident.
The law stares them int he face, while they are breaking it.
STARE, n. A fixed look with eyes wide open.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a fixed look with eyes open wide v
1: look at with fixed eyes; "The students stared at the teacher with amazement" [syn: gaze, stare]
2: fixate one's eyes; "The ancestor in the painting is staring down menacingly"

Merriam Webster's

I. verb (stared; staring) Etymology: Middle English, from Old English starian; akin to Old High German star?n to stare, Greek stereos solid, Lithuanian starinti to stiffen Date: before 12th century intransitive verb 1. to look fixedly often with wide-open eyes 2. to show oneself conspicuously <the error stared from the page> 3. of hair to stand on end ; bristle; also to appear rough and lusterless transitive verb 1. to have an effect on by staring 2. to look at with a searching or earnest gaze • starer noun II. noun Date: 15th century the act or an instance of staring <a blank stare>

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v. & n. --v. 1 intr. (usu. foll. by at) look fixedly with eyes open, esp. as the result of curiosity, surprise, bewilderment, admiration, horror, etc. (sat staring at the door; stared in amazement). 2 intr. (of eyes) be wide open and fixed. 3 intr. be unpleasantly prominent or striking. 4 tr. (foll. by into) reduce (a person) to a specified condition by staring (stared me into silence). --n. a staring gaze. Phrases and idioms: stare down (or out) outstare. stare a person in the face be evident or imminent. Derivatives: starer n. Etymology: OE starian f. Gmc

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Stare Stare, n. [AS. st[ae]r. See Starling.] (Zo["o]l.) The starling. [Obs.]

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Stare Stare, v. i. [imp. & p. p. stared; p. pr. & vb. n. staring.] [AS. starian; akin to LG. & D. staren, OHG. star[=e]n, G. starren, Icel. stara; cf. Icel. stira, Dan. stirre, Sw. stirra, and G. starr stiff, rigid, fixed, Gr. ? solid (E. stereo-), Skr. sthira firm, strong. [root]166. Cf. Sterile.] 1. To look with fixed eyes wide open, as through fear, wonder, surprise, impudence, etc.; to fasten an earnest and prolonged gaze on some object. For ever upon the ground I see thee stare. --Chaucer. Look not big, nor stamp, nor stare, nor fret. --Shak. 2. To be very conspicuous on account of size, prominence, color, or brilliancy; as, staring windows or colors. 3. To stand out; to project; to bristle. [Obs.] Makest my blood cold, and my hair to stare. --Shak. Take off all the staring straws and jags in the hive. --Mortimer. Syn: To gaze; to look earnestly. See Gaze.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Stare Stare, v. t. To look earnestly at; to gaze at. I will stare him out of his wits. --Shak. To stare in the face, to be before the eyes, or to be undeniably evident. ``The law . . . stares them in the face whilst they are breaking it.'' --Locke.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Stare Stare, n. The act of staring; a fixed look with eyes wide open. ``A dull and stupid stare.'' --Churchill.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Starling Star"ling, n. [OE. sterlyng, a dim. of OE. stare, AS. st[ae]r; akin to AS. stearn, G. star, staar, OHG. stara, Icel. starri, stari, Sw. stare, Dan. st[ae]r, L. sturnus. Cf. Stare a starling.] 1. (Zo["o]l.) Any passerine bird belonging to Sturnus and allied genera. The European starling (Sturnus vulgaris) is dark brown or greenish black, with a metallic gloss, and spotted with yellowish white. It is a sociable bird, and builds about houses, old towers, etc. Called also stare, and starred. The pied starling of India is Sternopastor contra. 2. (Zo["o]l.) A California fish; the rock trout. 3. A structure of piles driven round the piers of a bridge for protection and support; -- called also sterling. Rose-colored starling. (Zo["o]l.) See Pastor.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(stares, staring, stared) Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English. 1. If you stare at someone or something, you look at them for a long time. Tamara stared at him in disbelief, shaking her head... Mahoney tried not to stare. VERB: V prep/adv, V • Stare is also a noun. Hlasek gave him a long, cold stare. N-COUNT 2. If a situation or the answer to a problem is staring you in the face, it is very obvious, although you may not be immediately aware of it. (INFORMAL) Then the answer hit me. It had been staring me in the face ever since Lullington. PHRASE: V inflects

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

v. n. Gaze, gloat, look intently, gaze earnestly.

Moby Thesaurus

be amazed, be astonished, be curious, bedroom eyes, bore, burn with curiosity, come-hither look, crane, crane the neck, dig around for, dig up, evil eye, eye, gape, gaup, gawk, gaze, gaze open-mouthed, glad eye, glare, gloat, glower, glowering look, goggle, inquire, interrogate, look, malocchio, marvel, nose around for, nose out, ogle, peer, penetrating look, query, question, quiz, rubber, rubberneck, seek, stand aghast, stand on tiptoe, stare at, stare down, stare hard, stare openmouthed, want to know, watch, whammy, wonder