/ ˌderɪŋ ˈduː; NAmE / noun
[ U ] ( old-fashioned , humorous ) brave actions, like those in adventure stories
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WORD ORIGIN
late 16th cent.: from late Middle English dorryng do daring to do , used by Chaucer, and, in a passage by Lydgate based on Chaucer's work, misprinted in 16th-cent. editions as derrynge do ; this was misinterpreted by Spenser to mean manhood, chivalry , and subsequently taken up and popularized by Sir Walter Scott.