rebut

• POS: Verb (usu participle)
• HYPHEN: re=but

CIDE DICTIONARY

rebut, v. t. [OF. rebouter to repulse, drive back; pref. re- + bouter to push, thrust. See 1st Butt, Boutade.].

•  To drive or beat back; to repulse.  [1913 Webster]

  "Who him, rencount'ring fierce, as hawk in flight,
  Perforce rebutted back."  [1913 Webster]
•  To contradict, meet, or oppose by argument, plea, or countervailing proof.  Abbott.  [1913 Webster]

rebut, v. i. 

•  To retire; to recoil.  Spenser.  [1913 Webster]
•  To make, or put in, an answer, as to a plaintiff's surrejoinder.  [1913 Webster]

  "The plaintiff may answer the rejoinder by a surrejoinder; on which the defendant may rebut."  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

rebut, v.tr. (rebutted, rebutting)
1 refute or disprove (evidence or a charge).
2 force or turn back; check.

Derivative

rebutment n. rebuttable adj. rebuttal n.

Etymology

ME f. AF rebuter, OF rebo(u)ter (as RE-, BUTT(1))

THESAURUS

rebut

advocate, allege in support, answer, answer conclusively, argue down, argue for, assert, be contrary to, belie, blow sky-high, break, call into question, challenge, champion, confound, confute, contend for, contest, contradict, contravene, controvert, counter, countercharge, counterclaim, cross, crush, defeat, defend, demolish, deny, destroy, devastate, disconfirm, discredit, dismiss, dispose of, disprove, espouse, evert, expose, finish, floor, gainsay, hold off, invalidate, keep off, maintain, make a plea, make a rebuttal, negate, nonplus, oppugn, overthrow, overturn, overwhelm, parry, plead for, puncture, put to silence, rebuff, reduce to silence, refute, reject, rejoin, repel, reply, repulse, respond, riposte, ruin, say in defense, settle, shoot down, shut up, silence, smash all opposition, speak for, speak up for, squash, squelch, stand up for, stave off, stick up for, subvert, support, surrebut, surrejoin, sustain, traverse, undermine, uphold, upset, urge reasons for, ward off

ROGET THESAURUS

rebut

Answer

VB answer, respond, reply, rebut, retort, rejoin, give for answer, return for answer, acknowledge, echo, explain, solve, discover, fathom, hunt out, satisfy, set at rest, determine.

Counter Evidence

VB countervail, oppose, mitigate against, rebut, subvert, cheek, weaken, contravene, contradict, tell the other side of the story, tell another story, turn the scale, alter the case, turn the tables, cut both ways, prove a negative, audire alteram partem.

Confutation

VB confute, refute, disprove, parry, negative, controvert, rebut, confound, disconfirm, redargue, expose, show the fallacy of, defeat, demolish, break, overthrow, overturn scatter to the winds, explode, invalidate, silence, put to silence, reduce to silence, clinch an argument, clinch a question, give one a setdown, stop the mouth, shut up, have, have on the hip, not leave a leg to stand on, cut the ground from under one's feet, be confuted, fail, expose one's weak point, show one's weak point, counter evidence.

Negation

VB deny, contradict, contravene, controvert, give denial to, gainsay, negative, shake the head, disown, disaffirm, disclaim, disavow, recant, revoke, dispute, impugn, traverse, rebut, join issue upon, bring in question, call in question, give the lie in his throat, give one the lie in his throat, deny flatly, deny peremptorily, deny emphatically, deny absolutely, deny wholly, deny entirely, give the lie to, belie, repudiate, set aside, ignore, rebut, qualify, refuse, recuse, deny, contradict, contravene, controvert, give denial to, gainsay, negative, shake the head, disown, disaffirm, disclaim, disavow, recant, revoke, dispute, impugn, traverse, rebut, join issue upon, bring in question, call in question, give the lie in his throat, give one the lie in his throat, deny flatly, deny peremptorily, deny emphatically, deny absolutely, deny wholly, deny entirely, give the lie to, belie, repudiate, set aside, ignore, rebut, qualify, refuse, recuse.