rebuttal

rebut +‎ -al.

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ɹɪˈbʌt.əl/

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• (US) IPA^(key): /ɹiˈbʌt.əl/, [ɹiˈbʌɾ.əl]

  • Audio (US)

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• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /ɹɪˈbat.əl/, [ɹɪˈbaɾ.əl]
• Rhymes: -ʌtəl

rebuttal (plural rebuttals)

1. The act of contradicting something by making a contrary argument, or presenting contrary evidence.
   • 2023 August 17, Aditya Chakrabortty, “Can’t pay and they really do take it away: what happens when the bailiffs come knocking”, in The Guardian‎:

     For those who imagine the capital flows with milk and honey, or avocado and sourdough, Edmonton is your rebuttal. Once full of light industry, today it has some of the most deprived areas in England.

2. A statement, designed to refute or negate specific arguments put forward by opponents.
3. (law) A pleading by a defendant in reply to the evidence put forward by a plaintiff or the prosecution.

• See refute.

• refutation
• confutation
• contradiction

• right of rebuttal

• rebut
• rebuttable
• rebutter

• “rebuttal”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “rebuttal”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

• burletta