refute

«refute» in Mova's school dictionary: to prove that it is wrong — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

part of speech

verb (refute, refutes, refuted, refuting)

meaning for a pupil

1) To refute an idea or claim is to prove that it is wrong. tree →

2) (formal) To refute can also mean to say firmly that something is not true, even without proof. tree →

sense in the lessons

In science, debate and news lessons it is about proving claims wrong with evidence. Phrases: refute a claim, refute the argument.

examples

• She refuted his claim with photos. tree →
• The scientist refuted the old idea. tree →
• Can you refute this argument? tree →
• The evidence refuted the rumour. tree →
• He refuted the story, saying it was false. tree →
• Use evidence to refute a false claim. tree →

note

Formal. «Refute» means prove wrong; «deny» just says it is not true. Past: refuted.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «refute» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.