Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • intransitive verb To refute, especially by offering opposing evidence or arguments, as in a legal case.
  • intransitive verb To repel or reject.
  • intransitive verb To present opposing evidence or arguments.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To repel by force; rebuff; drive back.
  • To thrust back or away, as by denial; refuse assent to; repel; reject.
  • To repel by evidence or argument; bring counter-arguments against; refute, or strive to refute: much used in legal procedure.
  • To withdraw: used reflexively.
  • In law, to make an answer, as to a plaintiff's surrejoinder. Compare surrebut.
  • In curling, to make a random stroke with great force, in the hope of gaining some advantage in the striking and displacement of the stones about the tee.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb To drive or beat back; to repulse.
  • transitive verb (Law) To contradict, meet, or oppose by argument, plea, or countervailing proof.
  • intransitive verb obsolete To retire; to recoil.
  • intransitive verb (Law) To make, or put in, an answer, as to a plaintiff's surrejoinder.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb To drive back or beat back; to repulse.
  • verb To deny the truth of something, especially by presenting arguments that disprove it.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb prove to be false or incorrect
  • verb overthrow by argument, evidence, or proof

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English reboten, rebutte, to rebuke, repel, from Old French rebouter : re-, re- + bouter, to push (of Germanic origin; see bhau- in Indo-European roots).]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Entering English 1302–1307, from the archaic French reboter, from Old French reboter, rebuter, rebouter, etc., from re- + boter, buter, bouter ("to butt").

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Examples

Comments

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  • Tuber in reverse.

    July 22, 2007