rebut, v.
(rɪˈbʌt)
Forms: α. 3–4 (6 Sc.) rebute, 4 rebuyt; Sc. 5 reboyt, rabut, 5–6 raboyt, 6 reboot. β. 4–5 rebout(e, 5 rebowte. γ. 5–7 rebutte, 7 rebutt, 6– rebut.
[a. AF. reboter (1302–7), OF. reboter, rebuter, rebouter, etc., f. re- re- + boter, buter, bouter to butt v.1]
† 1. trans. To assail (a person) with violent language; to revile, rebuke, reproach. Obs.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 29520 For-þi es fele rebuted [v.r. reuyled] here þat forwit crist self es dere. 1330 Arth. & Merl. 3000 (Kölbing) King & erls, wiþ outen dout, Þer gun him anon rebout For to prouen his maner. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xii. (Mathias) 174 Rubene..fand hyme sa takand his froyte. quhare-for he cane hyme faste reboyte; & he hyme with wordis fell answerte. c 1470 Henry Wallace x. 595 ‘Wallace’, said Bruce, ‘rabut me now no mar’. |
† 2. To repel, repulse, drive back (a person, or an attack). Obs.
| 1375 Barbour Bruce vii. 617 Fiften hundreth men & ma Wyth fewar war rebutit swa, That thai vith-drew thaim schamfully. c 1400 Melayne 743 Was neuer kynge that werede a crown So foule rebuytede. c 1470 Henry Wallace vi. 754 Raboytit ewill, on to thar king thai rid. 1480 Caxton Ovid's Met. xiv. xiv, Romulus & his peple..made them to retorne and flee abacke & rebowted them alle out of Rome. 1513 Douglas æneis xi. viii. 38 Quha can that say..That I rebutit was or dung abak? 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 542 The Englishe Capteynes..rebutted and draue away the Frenchmen. 1590 Spenser F.Q. ii. ii. 23 But he..Their sharp assault right boldly did rebut. |
b. transf. in various uses. Also const. from.
| 1536 Bellenden Cron. Scot. (1821) I. 24 The Scottis and Pichtis, more insolent efter this victory than afore, rebutit the Britonis, and denyit peace. 1570–6 Lambarde Peramb. Kent (1826) 495 The Eldest Sonne onely shall be rebutted, or barred, by the warrantie of the auncestour. 1593 Nashe Christ's T. 66 Our Atheist,..with nothing but humaine reasons will bee rebutted. 1661 Cowley O. Cromwell Wks. 1710 II. 660 The other Design..from which he was rebuted by the universal Outcry of the Divines. 1848 Fraser's Mag. XXXVII. 510 This demand upon the exercise of the imagination will rebut the mere novel reader. |
† c. To foil or deprive of (a thing) by repulse.
| 1508 Dunbar Gold. Targe 180 Syne [they] went abak reboytit of thair pray. 1535 Stewart Cron. Scot. III. 466 He had far leuer sterue,..Of his honour or he rebutit be. |
3. To force or turn back (a thing, now usually something abstract); to give a check to.
| 1490 Caxton Eneydos x. 40 The lyghte of the daye rebouted and putte a backe the shadowe of the nyghte. 1596 Spenser Hymn Heav. Beaut. 125 Their points rebutted backe againe Are duld. 1601 Weever Mirr. Mart. B v b, A naked piller, Whose force rebutts the streame which runneth after. 1633 P. Fletcher Pisc. Ecl. i. iii, Rebutting Phœbus parching fervencie. a 1720 Sheffield (Dk. Buckhm.) Wks. (1753) II. 157 Rowing in the Gallies is nothing to the toil of popularity; but ambition is rebutted with nothing. 1814 Southey Roderick xvi. 66 [The stream] here, from the rock Rebutted, curls and eddies. 1859 I. Taylor Logic in Theol. 24 Fatalism..has been rebutted in its attempt to interfere with the energies of the day. |
† b. To repel, reject (a thing offered). Obs.
| 1562 A. Scott Poems (S.T.S.) i. 108 As waspis ressauis of þe same bot soure, So reprobatis Christis buke dois rebute. |
4. Law. To repel by counter-proof, refute (evidence, a charge, etc.). Hence in general use: To refute, disprove (any statement, theory, etc.).
| 1817 W. Selwyn Law Nisi Prius (ed. 4) II. 709 The presumption of legitimacy..may be rebutted by circumstances inducing a contrary presumption. 1830 D'Israeli Chas. I, III. v. 70 This faculty..enabled him to rebut the minute and harassing charges brought against him. a 1862 Buckle Civiliz. (1873) III. v. 327 This antiquated notion is further rebutted by the fact that wages are always higher in summer than in winter. 1869 Rogers Pref. Adam Smith's W.N. I. 26 He rebuts their strange doctrine. |
5. intr. or absol. † a. To draw back, retire, retreat, recoil. Obs.
| 1422 tr. Secreta Secret., Priv. Priv. 139 Company..makyth the honnoure of lordshupp rebutte in dyspite. Ibid. 246 The grete colde..makyth the naturall hette reboute and retourne to the stomake. 1481 Caxton Myrr. ii. xxi. 111 As the sabboth day approcheth he [a river] rebouteth and goth into therthe agayn. 1590 Spenser F.Q. i. ii. 15 Themselves..Doe backe rebutte, and ech to other yealdeth land. 1624 Quarles Div. Poems, Sion's Elegies ii. 5 As the Pilot..striving to 'scape The danger of deepe-mouth'd Carybdis rape, Rebutts on Scylla. |
b. Law. To bring forward a rebutter. ? Obs.
| 1602 W. Fulbecke 2nd Pt. Parall. 67 If the prouiso had beene that he should neyther vouche nor rebutte, the prouiso had beene void. 1628 Coke On Litt. 365 The action of the heire by the Warrantie of his Ancestor..is called to Rebut or repell. 1768 Blackstone Comm. III. xx. 310 The plaintiff may answer the rejoinder by a sur-rejoinder; upon which the defendant may rebut. |
c. Curling. To play a random shot with great force towards the close of a game, in the hope of gaining some advantage for one's own side.
| 1831 [see rebutting vbl. n.]. 1890 Kerr Curling 404 To rebut..and to cannon.., were two favourite points by which the ancient curlers were wont to win distinction. |