dare-devil, n. and a.
(ˈdɛəˌdɛvɪl)
[f. dare v.1 + devil: cf. cutthroat, scarecrow.]
A. n. One ready to dare the devil; one who is recklessly daring.
| 1794 Wolcott (P. Pindar) Odes to Mr. Paine ii, I deemed myself a dare-devil in rhime. 1841 Lytton Nt & Morn. (1851) 152 A dangerous, desperate, reckless dare-devil. 1874 Green Short Hist. x. §1 Robert Clive..an idle dare-devil of a boy whom his friends had been glad to get rid of. |
B. adj. Of or pertaining to a dare-devil; recklessly daring.
| 1832 W. Irving Alhambra II. 193 A certain dare-devil cast of countenance. 1860 Motley Netherl. I. 159 Plenty of dare-devil skippers ready to bring cargoes. |
Hence ˈdare-ˌdevilish a., ˈdare-ˌdevilism, ˈdare-ˌdevilry, -deviltry (U.S.).
| 1886 Blackw. Mag. CXL. 737 His faults were dare-devilism and recklessness. 1859 Sat. Rev. VIII. 24/2 The dare-devilry which prompts a respectable girl to make her way into the haunts of vice. 1886 Mrs. C. Praed Miss Jacobsen's Chance I. vi. 111 The spice of dare-devilry in him was in piquant contrast to, etc. 1881 N.Y. Nation XXXII. 369 No city has for courage and dare-deviltry surpassed Milan. |