disprove — disprove, refute, confute, rebut, controvert mean to show or attempt to show by argument that a statement, a claim, a proposition, or a charge is not true. Disprove stresses the success of an argument in showing the falsity, erroneousness, or… … New Dictionary of Synonyms
Disprove — Dis*prove , v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Disproved}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Disproving}.] [Pref. dis + prove: cf. OF. desprover.] 1. To prove to be false or erroneous; to confute; to refute. [1913 Webster] That false supposition I advanced in order to disprove … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
disprove — [dis pro͞ov′, dis′pro͞ov′; dis′pro͞ov΄] vt. disproved, disproved or disproven, disproving [ME disproven < OFr desprover: see DIS & PROVE] to prove to be false or in error; refute; confute disprovable adj. SYN. DISPROVE implies the presenting… … English World dictionary
disprove — I verb belie, confute, contravene, controvert, counteract, countervail, deny, discredit, dispel, find unfounded, invalidate, negate, nullify, oppugn, prove false, prove the contrary, prove to be wrong, prove to the contrary, rebut, redarguere,… … Law dictionary
disprove — late 14c., from O.Fr. desprover refute, contradict, from des (see DIS (Cf. dis )) + prover (see PROVE (Cf. prove)). Related: Disproved; disproving … Etymology dictionary
disprove — [v] prove false belie, blow sky high*, blow up*, break, confound, confute, contradict, contravene, controvert, deny, disconfirm, discredit, explode, expose, find unfounded, impugn, invalidate, knock bottom out of*, knock props out*, negate,… … New thesaurus
disprove — ► VERB ▪ prove to be false. DERIVATIVES disprovable adjective … English terms dictionary
disprove — UK [dɪsˈpruːv] / US [dɪsˈpruv] verb [transitive] Word forms disprove : present tense I/you/we/they disprove he/she/it disproves present participle disproving past tense disproved past participle disproved to prove that something is not correct or … English dictionary
disprove — [[t]dɪspru͟ːv[/t]] disproves, disproving, disproved, disproven VERB To disprove an idea, belief, or theory means to show that it is not true. [V n] The statistics to prove or disprove his hypothesis will take years to collect. Syn: refute … English dictionary
disprove — transitive verb Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo French desprover, from des dis + prover to prove Date: 14th century to prove to be false or wrong ; refute < disprove a theory > • disprovable adjective … New Collegiate Dictionary
disprove — verb Disprove is used with these nouns as the object: ↑allegation, ↑claim, ↑existence, ↑myth, ↑theory, ↑thesis … Collocations dictionary