dastard adj 1: despicably cowardly; "the unprovoked and dastardly attack by Japan on...December 7th"- F.D. Roosevelt [syn: {dastard(a)}, {dastardly}] n 1: a despicable coward
Dastard \Das"tard\, a. Meanly shrinking from danger; cowardly; dastardly. "Their dastard souls." --Addison. [1913 Webster]
Dastard \Das"tard\, v. t. To dastardize. [R.] --Dryden. [1913 Webster]
Dastard \Das"tard\ (d[a^]s"t[~e]rd), n. [Prob. from Icel. d[ae]str exhausted. breathless, p. p. of d[ae]sa to groan, lose one's breath; cf. dasask to become exhausted, and E. daze.] One who meanly shrinks from danger; an arrant coward; a poltroon. [1913 Webster] You are all recreants and dashtards, and delight to live in slavery to the nobility. --Shak. [1913 Webster]