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Dating: to go out on a date with someone.
Date: a social appointment; to go out socially with another person
FYI:
University College London used mathematical modeling to show different combinations of dating approaches.
In the model, both the males and females had to secretly indicate their prospective partners' attractiveness to them. Each male then had to decide what kind of gift to offer a female, in terms of extravagant, valuable or cheap, based on his attraction to her. The female had to either accept or decline the gift and then choose whether to mate with the male, based on her attraction to him.
The outcome demonstrated that if the males gave valuable gifts regularly, the females would take advantage, and the males would not be able to accurately assess the females' feelings. But the offering and acceptance of "worthless" gifts -- dinners rather than diamonds -- showed who the truly interested and attracted females were.
Though this study was based on a one-way, gender-specific test -- males giving to females -- the results are certainly applicable to any new relationships.
No matter how attracted to and excited about a new person you are, going overboard and blowing a lot of money is not a good idea. It sets in motion a high financial precedent that may be easily manipulated.
Go easy on the spending and get to know someone new through reasonably priced or cheap activities.