stare
verb /steə(r)/
/ster/
[intransitive]Verb Forms
Idioms Phrasal Verbs| present simple I / you / we / they stare | /steə(r)/ /ster/ |
| he / she / it stares | /steəz/ /sterz/ |
| past simple stared | /steəd/ /sterd/ |
| past participle stared | /steəd/ /sterd/ |
| -ing form staring | /ˈsteərɪŋ/ /ˈsterɪŋ/ |
- to look at somebody/something for a long time
- I screamed and everyone stared.
- stare at somebody/something I stared blankly at the paper in front of me.
- stare up/down at somebody/something They stared up at the hole in the ceiling.
- He sat staring into space (= looking at nothing).
- I was staring into her beautiful blue eyes.
- She looked at them with dark staring eyes.
Synonyms starestare- gaze
- peer
- glare
- stare to look at somebody/something for a long time, especially with surprise or fear, or because you are thinking:
- I screamed and everyone stared.
- gaze (rather formal) to look steadily at somebody/something for a long time, especially with surprise or love, or because you are thinking:
- We all gazed at Marco in amazement.
- peer to look closely or carefully at something, especially when you cannot see it clearly
- glare to look angrily at somebody/something for a long time:
- I looked at her and she glared stonily back.
- to stare/gaze/peer/glare at somebody/something
- to stare/gaze/peer/glare suspiciously
- to stare/gaze/peer anxiously/intently
- to stare/gaze/glare wildly/fiercely
Extra Examples- Everyone in the room turned to stare at her.
- For a long moment they just stared at each other.
- They were staring intently at a computer screen.
- He'd wait there all day, staring out the window.
- He just stared at her with disbelief.
- He stared at me bleakly and said nothing.
- He stared straight ahead and did not move.
- He was still staring at himself in the mirror.
- His party was staring into the abyss.
- I could see a man staring at me intently.
- I sat staring at the ruins of the building.
- I stared at him open-mouthed, unable to speak.
- I stared in horror at his bloody mouth.
- It was too cold to stand and stare.
- She could only stare at him with pain in her eyes.
- She stalked off, leaving them all staring after her.
- She stared at him stonily as he came in.
- She stared back at him.
- She stared blankly at the brick wall in front of her.
- She was just sitting there, staring into space.
- He sat for hours just staring into space.
- Peter stared in disbelief at the message on the screen.
- The builder stared up at the crack in the ceiling with a thoughtful expression.
- The passengers stared wide-eyed as the hijacker took out a grenade.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb- fixedly
- hard
- intently
- …
- seem to
- continue to
- turn to
- …
- at
- across
- around
- …
- sit staring
- stand staring
- sit and stare
- …
Word OriginOld English starian, of Germanic origin, from a base meaning ‘be rigid’.
Idioms
be staring somebody in the face
- used to describe something that you have failed to see, even though it was obvious and should have been easy to see
- The answer was staring us in the face but we never saw it until it was too late.
- to be certain to happen
- Defeat was staring them in the face.
be staring something in the face
- to be unable to avoid something
- They were staring defeat in the face.