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The -but in rebut once meant basically "butt", so rebut's original meanings were "to drive or beat back" and "to attack with violent language". Rebuttals can still be rather violent, as anyone who has watched some heated moments in a presidential debate can testify. The word is often used by lawyers, since the lawyer for the accused or for the party being sued almost always tries to rebut the charges against his or her client; but it's also used in plenty of contexts outside the courtroom.

Examples of rebut in a Sentence

Her lawyer attempted to rebut the witness's testimony. Stalingrad's defenders were finally able to rebut the besiegers, but only after a horrendous loss of life.

Recent Examples on the Web His campaign publicly posted the dossier along with the complaint on a website, FactsMD.com, that attempts to rebut the allegations. — Bryn Stole, Baltimore Sun, 15 Apr. 2022 Democrats sought to preemptively rebut Republican criticism of her record on criminal matters as a judge and before that as a federal public defender and a member of the U.S. Sentencing Commission. — Compiled Democrat-gazette Staff From Wire Reports, Arkansas Online, 22 Mar. 2022 The hydropower behind China's Bitcoin mines was often held up by cryptocurrency advocates to rebut criticism about the technology's environmental impact. — Jon Sarlin, CNN, 26 Feb. 2022 Russian officials sought a meeting at the U.N. Security Council on Monday to rebut allegations that its troops committed a mass assault on civilians. — Washington Post, 1 Apr. 2022 Democrats sought to preemptively rebut Republican criticism of her record on criminal matters as a judge and before that as a federal public defender and a member of the U.S. Sentencing Commission. — Compiled Democrat-gazette Staff From Wire Reports, Arkansas Online, 22 Mar. 2022 Democrats sought to preemptively rebut Republican criticism of her record on criminal matters as a judge and before that, as a federal public defender and a member of the U.S. Sentencing Commission. — Mark Sherman And Mary Clare Jalonick, chicagotribune.com, 21 Mar. 2022 Democrats sought to preemptively rebut Republican criticism of her record on criminal matters as a judge and before that as a federal public defender and a member of the U.S. Sentencing Commission. — Mark Sherman And Mary Clare Jalonick, Anchorage Daily News, 21 Mar. 2022 Fox is arguing that its anchors did query and rebut the most outrageous allegations. — New York Times, 13 Mar. 2022 See More

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