7 VERB If your ideas, what you say, or the things that you like or can remember date you, they show that you are quite old or older than the people you are with. □ [V n] It's going to date me now. I attended that school from 1969 to 1972.
8 N‑COUNT A date is an appointment to meet someone or go out with them, especially someone with whom you are having, or may soon have, a romantic relationship. □ I have a date with Bob.
9 N‑COUNT [usu poss N ] If you have a date with someone with whom you are having, or may soon have, a romantic relationship, you can refer to that person as your date . □ He lied to Essie, saying his date was one of the girls in the show.
10 VERB If you are dating someone, you go out with them regularly because you are having, or may soon have, a romantic relationship with them. You can also say that two people are dating . □ [V n] For a year I dated a woman who was a research assistant. □ [V ] They've been dating for three months.
11 N‑COUNT A date is a small, dark-brown, sticky fruit with a stone inside. Dates grow on palm trees in hot countries.
12 → see also blind date , carbon dating , dated , out of date , up-to-date
▸ date back PHRASAL VERB If something dates back to a particular time, it started or was made at that time. □ [V P + to ] …a palace dating back to the 16th century. □ [V P amount] This tradition dates back over 200 years.
▸ date from PHRASAL VERB If something dates from a particular time, it started or was made at that time. □ [V P n] The present controversy dates from 2016.
dat|ed /de I t I d/ ADJ Dated things seem old-fashioned, although they may once have been fashionable or modern. □ …people in dated dinner-jackets.
da te of bi rth (dates of birth ) N‑COUNT [oft poss N ] Your date of birth is the exact date on which you were born, including the year. □ The registration form showed his date of birth as August 2, 1979.
da te palm (date palms ) N‑VAR A date palm is a palm tree on which dates grow.
da te ra pe N‑UNCOUNT Date rape is when a man rapes a woman whom he has met socially.
da|ting /de I t I ŋ/ ADJ [ADJ n] Dating agencies or services are for people who are trying to find a girlfriend or boyfriend. □ I joined a dating agency.
da|tive /de I t I v/ N‑SING In the grammar of some languages, for example Latin, the dative , or the dative case, is the case used for a noun when it is the indirect object of a verb, or when it comes after some prepositions.
da|tum /de I təm, dɑː təm/ → see data
daub /dɔː b/ (daubs , daubing , daubed ) VERB When you daub a substance such as mud or paint on something, you spread it on that thing in a rough or careless way. □ [V n prep/adv] The make-up woman daubed mock blood on Jeremy. □ [V n + with ] They sent death threats and daubed his home with slogans.
daugh|ter ◆◆◆ /dɔː tə r / (daughters ) N‑COUNT [oft with poss] Someone's daughter is their female child. □ …Flora and her daughter Catherine. □ …the daughter of a university professor. □ I have two daughters.
dau ghter-in-law (daughters-in-law ) N‑COUNT [usu poss N ] Someone's daughter-in-law is the wife of one of their children.
daunt /dɔː nt/ (daunts , daunting , daunted ) VERB If something daunts you, it makes you feel slightly afraid or worried about dealing with it. □ [V n] …a gruelling journey that would have daunted a woman half her age. ● daunt|ed ADJ [v-link ADJ ] □ It is hard to pick up such a book and not to feel a little daunted.
daunt|ing /dɔː nt I ŋ/ ADJ Something that is daunting makes you feel slightly afraid or worried about dealing with it. □ They were faced with the daunting task of restoring the house. ● daunt|ing|ly ADV □ She is dauntingly articulate.
daunt|less /dɔː ntləs/ ADJ A dauntless person is brave and confident and not easily frightened. [LITERARY ] □ …their dauntless courage.
dau|phin /dɔː f I n, doʊ fæn/ also Dauphin N‑SING In former times, the king and queen of France's oldest son was called the dauphin .
daw|dle /dɔː d ə l/ (dawdles , dawdling , dawdled ) VERB If you dawdle , you spend more time than is necessary going somewhere. □ [V ] Eleanor will be back any moment, if she doesn't dawdle.
dawn /dɔː n/ (dawns , dawning , dawned )
1 N‑VAR Dawn is the time of day when light first appears in the sky, just before the sun rises. □ Nancy woke at dawn.
2 N‑SING The dawn of a period of time or a situation is the beginning of it. [LITERARY ] □ …the dawn of the radio age.
3 VERB If something is dawning , it is beginning to develop or come into existence. [WRITTEN ] □ [V ] The age of the computerized toilet has dawned. ● dawn|ing N‑SING □ …the dawning of the space age.
4 VERB When you say that a particular day dawned , you mean it arrived or began, usually when it became light. [WRITTEN ] □ [V ] When the great day dawned, the first concern was the weather.
5 at the crack of dawn → see crack ➋
▸ dawn on or dawn upon PHRASAL VERB If a fact or idea dawns on you, you realize it. □ [V P n that] It gradually dawned on me that I still had talent and ought to run again. □ [V P n] Then the chilling truth dawned on Captain Gary Snavely.