give the lie to en · VERB
Pronunciation
- (Australia) audio
Meanings
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(idiomatic, transitive) To reveal or prove (something) to be false; to refute.
As you like this, give me the lie another time.
1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene iii], page 103, line 84:They found plenty of emails that gave the lie to his assertion that he didn't know about the incident.
The bet against Treasuries gave the lie to a criticism sometimes made of Dalio—that he is basically a bond-market investor, who has benefitted from a twenty-year rally in bonds.
2011 July 18, John Cassidy, “Mastering the Machine”, in The New Yorker, →ISSN:The automatic under his pillow gave the lie to that statement.
1934, Agatha Christie, chapter 9, in Murder on the Orient Express, London: HarperCollins, published 2017, page 262:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| gives the lie to | Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres | lexicographic | |
| gave the lie to | Tense=Past | lexicographic | |
| given the lie to | Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic | |
| giving the lie to | Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic |
Synonyms
put lie to · belie · put the lie to · give lie to · contradict · put to lie
Translations (7)
mi whakatapeha (to prove (something) to be false) · pl zadać kłam (to prove (something) to be false) · pl zadawać kłam (to prove (something) to be false) · es desmentir (to prove (something) to be false) · ar كَذَّبَ (to prove (something) to be false) · fi osoittaa vääräksi (to prove (something) to be false) · fi kiistää (to prove (something) to be false)