give the lie to
English
Pronunciation
Audio (AU) (file)
Verb
give the lie to (third-person singular simple present gives the lie to, present participle giving the lie to, simple past gave the lie to, past participle given the lie to)
- (idiomatic, transitive) To reveal or prove (something) to be false; to refute.
- They found plenty of email that gave the lie to his assertion that he didn't know about the incident.
- 1934, Agatha Christie, chapter 9, in Murder on the Orient Express, London: HarperCollins, published 2017, page 262:
- 'The automatic under his pillow gave the lie to that statement.'
Synonyms
- give lie to
- put the lie to, put lie to, put to lie
- belie, contradict
Translations
to prove (something) to be false
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