rebate

verb re·bate \ ˈrē-ˌbāt , ri-ˈbāt \

Updated on: 18 Apr 2018

Definition of rebate

rebated; rebating

transitive verb

1 : to reduce the force or activity of : diminish

2 : to reduce the sharpness of : blunt

3 a : to make a rebate of

b : to give a rebate to

intransitive verb

: to give rebates

—

rebater

noun

See rebate defined for kids

Recent Examples of rebate from the Web

Some of the start-ups promise rebates to buyers, however.

— hudson sangree, sacbee, "How much is a real estate agent worth? New firms dangle lower fees in a hot market," 10 Feb. 2018
The city would rebate a portion of the sales taxes up to a specific point.

— steve lord, Aurora Beacon-News, "'Trend setting' Asian shopping center proposed for Aurora would be largest in U.S., officials say," 6 Feb. 2018
Duke’s program would rebate 60 cents a watt for home systems, or $4,800 for a typical 8-kilowatt installation.

— bruce henderson, charlotteobserver, "Here’s how much you can save going solar under new Duke Energy program," 22 Jan. 2018
Economists and politicians disagree about how to spend the cash raised by such a policy: Some want to rebate it directly back to Americans; others say it should be used to help out-of-work coal miners and renewable-energy development.

— robinson meyer, The Atlantic, "Republicans Blow Their Chance to Pass a Carbon Tax," 20 Dec. 2017
Under the plan, St. Charles would rebate part of a seat tax for 10 years to cover those costs, said Onesti, who recently approached city officials and suggested the Arcada would close if a deal could not be reached.

— mike danahey, Elgin Courier-News, "Arcada operator: We're close to a deal to renovate, keep theater open," 9 Dec. 2017
For the homebuyer, the city rebates a portion of the building fee up to $5,000 with a matching contribution up to $5,000 from the builder.

— linda girardi, Aurora Beacon-News, "Yorkville ends incentive program for home building," 27 Oct. 2017
If the federal judges order the case back to District Court, billions of dollars now being charged to Edison and SDG&E ratepayers could be halted or even rebated.

— jeff mcdonald, sandiegouniontribune.com, "Federal appeals court schedules oral arguments in San Onofre lawsuit," 17 Oct. 2017
If a product is sold outside of Mexico, the VAT is rebated.

— the editors, National Review, "A Scalpel, Not a Chainsaw, for NAFTA," 17 Oct. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'rebate.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of rebate

Middle English, from Anglo-French rebatre, rabatre to beat back, deduct, from re- + abatre to strike down, from a- (from Latin ad-) + batre to beat, from Latin battuere

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 14th century

See Words from the same year

rebate

noun re·bate \ ˈrē-ˌbāt \

Definition of rebate

: a return of a part of a payment

See rebate defined for English-language learners

Examples of rebate in a Sentence

There is a $50 rebate offered with the printer.

Recent Examples of rebate from the Web

The potential rebate that Legal Aid is seeking is based on the length of the outages and the average monthly rent of $509, or $17 per day, that Nycha tenants pay.

— New York Times, "Legal Aid Demands Rebates for Nycha Tenants Left in the Cold," 12 Apr. 2018
Peterson has taught more than 2,000 people in his day-long workshops about cost-saving construction as well as financing and rebates.

— janet eastman, OregonLive.com, "Springfield paves the way for more backyard 'granny flats' (photos)," 11 Apr. 2018
GlobalFoundries, a smaller American competitor, argues that TSMC is deliberately increasing these costs, using loyalty rebates, exclusivity clauses and penalties.

— The Economist, "TSMC is about to become the world’s most advanced chipmaker," 5 Apr. 2018
Trust between ad giants and advertisers took a hit in 2016 after an Association of National Advertisers report found that ad agencies were accepting rebates from media companies without clients’ knowledge.

— nick kostov, WSJ, "WPP Probe Marks Rare Public Scrutiny of CEO," 4 Apr. 2018
The Connecticut Health Policy Project data show that net pharmacy spending, minus rebates from Connecticut’s Medicaid program, tripled from 2000 to 2017.

— sujata srinivasan, courant.com, "Rising Rx Prices Forcing Critical Choices; States May Be Last Hope For Consumers," 21 Mar. 2018
MADISON - The Senate decides Tuesday on a $100 per child tax rebate for parents and Foxconn-style subsidies to save two Kimberly-Clark Corp. paper plants.

— jason stein, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Will Senate send Gov. Scott Walker the bills he demanded on Wisconsin paper plant bailout and $100 per child tax rebate?," 20 Mar. 2018
Tesla, on the other hand, is starting to get close to the 200,000 limit, at which point those rebates begin to shrink.

— jonathan m. gitlin, Ars Technica, "Electric cat: Jaguar stalks Tesla with $70,000 I-Pace SUV," 6 Mar. 2018
The replacement will cost the town $431,000, taking into account a $94,000 rebate incentive Dracut received from National Grid and the Metropolitan Area Planning Council.

— john laidler, BostonGlobe.com, "Dracut prepares to replace streetlights," 30 Mar. 2018

First Known Use of rebate

1656

Other Economics Terms

actuary, compound interest, globalization, indemnity, portfolio, rentier, stagflation, usurer

rebate

re·bate \ ˈra-bət , ˈrē-ˌbāt \

Definition of rebate

chiefly British spelling of rabbet

Other Handicraft Terms

biscuit, darn, tambour, wrought

REBATE Defined for English Language Learners

rebate

noun

Definition of rebate for English Language Learners

: an amount of money that is paid back to you because you have paid too much
: an amount of money that a business or company pays back to you because you have bought a particular product or service