debunk

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“
Those who use data to debunk or support extra-scientific claims must be more subtle.

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Definitions (3)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (2)

  1. transitive verb To expose or ridicule the falseness, sham, or exaggerated claims of: debunk a supposed miracle drug.
  2. Word History
    One can readily see that debunk is constructed from the prefix de-, meaning "to remove,” and the word bunk. But what is the origin of the word bunk, denoting the nonsense that is to be removed? Bunk came from a place where much bunk has originated, the United States Congress. During the 16th Congress (1819-1821) Felix Walker, a representative from western North Carolina whose district included Buncombe County, carried on with a dull speech in the face of protests by his colleagues. Walker later explained he had felt obligated "to make a speech for Buncombe.” Such a masterful symbol for empty talk could not be ignored by the speakers of the language, and Buncombe, spelled Bunkum in its first recorded appearance in 1828 and later shortened to bunk, became synonymous with claptrap. The response to all this bunk seems to have been delayed, for debunk is not recorded until 1923.

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Examples (43)

  • It entertains me when I see some spend so much energy trying to "debunk" it.????? ... —  Home
  • Laugh Out the Vote brings together five stand-up comedians over five nights in the final countdown before Election Day to satirize, skewer, mock, parody, deflate, debunk, and generally ridicule the political scene in a juggernaut of hilarious catharsis. —  Indybay newswire
  • When ever anticreationists cannot debunk or refute a well put together video for creation, they will get together and do a "one star" voting campaign. —  CreationWiki - Recent changes [en]
  • Disinfo operative Glenn Beck's shabby and comical attempt to "debunk" FEMA camps was theater of the absurd at its most revealing. —  Alex Jones' Prison Planet.com
  • Coincidently, AJ's show and propaganda really took off once there wasn't anyone left with the credibility to debunk or challenge him. —  Alex Jones' Prison Planet.com
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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

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Used in the same contextWord Family

debunk:   debunking ·  debunked
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
 

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