durst

See also Durst

English

Pronunciation

• IPA: /dɜrst/

Verb

durst

1. (archaic) Simple past of dare.

   Four and Twenty tailors went to kill a snail; the best man among them durst not touch her tail...

   • 1843, Thomas Carlyle, Past and Present, book 2, ch. 6, Monk Samson

     nor was there a monk who durst speak to me, nor a laic who durst bring me food except by stealth.

   • 1883: Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island

     Captain Smollett, the squire, and Dr. Livesey were talking together on the quarterdeck, and, anxious as I was to tell them my story, I durst not interrupt them.

   • 1896, A. E. Housman, A Shropshire Lad, XXX, lines 1-2:

   Others, I am not the first,

   Have willed more mischief than they durst'

   • William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream Act 2, Scene 2, lines 82-83

     Pretty soul, she durst not lie, near this lack-love, this kill-courtesy.

Derived terms

• dursn't

Anagrams

• turds