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STARING
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Without qualification; used informally as (often pejorative) intensifiers
Example:
the unadulterated truth
Synonyms:
arrant; complete; consummate; double-dyed; everlasting; gross; perfect; pure; sodding; staring; stark; thorough; thoroughgoing; unadulterated; utter
Classified under:
Similar:
unmitigated (not diminished or moderated in intensity or severity; sometimes used as an intensifier)
Sense 2
Meaning:
(used of eyes) open and fixed as if in fear or wonder
Example:
staring eyes
Synonyms:
agaze; staring
Classified under:
Similar:
open; opened (used of mouth or eyes)
II. (verb)
Sense 1
-ing form of the verb stare
Context examples:
Do you know, there are two odious young men who have been staring at me this half hour.
(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)
“I’ve heard that voice before,” said Holmes, staring down the dimly lit street. “Now, I wonder who the deuce that could have been.”
(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
He started to take off his shoes, but fell to staring at the white plaster wall opposite him, broken by long streaks of dirty brown where rain had leaked through the roof.
(Martin Eden, by Jack London)
I stopped, for, I tell you, I was out of breath, and to my wonder, not a man of them moved, but all sat staring at me like as many sheep.
(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)
Motionless, rigid, staring; moaning in the same dumb way from time to time, with the same helpless motion of the head; but giving no other sign of life.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
Fully a score he could count, staring hungrily at him or calmly sleeping in the snow.
(White Fang, by Jack London)
Hans was restless, and Edith felt uncomfortable. Dennin lay on his back, staring straight up at the moss- chinked roof.
(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)
And now the sun went quite down; the gloomy night came; the owl flew into a bush; and a moment after the old fairy came forth pale and meagre, with staring eyes, and a nose and chin that almost met one another.
(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)
It would not rest him to lie down, and he could not close his eyes; so he remained all night staring at a little spider which was weaving its web in a corner of the room, just as if it were not one of the most wonderful rooms in the world.
(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)
A cry followed; he reeled, staggered, clutched at the table and held on, staring with injected eyes, gasping with open mouth; and as I looked there came, I thought, a change—he seemed to swell—his face became suddenly black and the features seemed to melt and alter—and the next moment, I had sprung to my feet and leaped back against the wall, my arms raised to shield me from that prodigy, my mind submerged in terror.
(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)
