Adjacent Words

Deny definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

DENY, v.t.
1. To contradict; to gainsay; to declare a statement or position not to be true. We deny what another says, or we deny a proposition. We deny the truth of an assertion, or the assertion itself. The sense of this verb is often expressed by no or nay.
2. To refuse to grant; as, we asked for bread, and the man denied us.
3. Not to afford; to withhold.
Who find not Providence all good and wise,
Alike in what it gives, and what denies?
4. To disown; to refuse or neglect to acknowledge; not to confess.
5. To reject; to disown; not to receive or embrace.
He hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel. 1 Timothy 5.
Denying ungodliness and worldly lusts. Titus 2.
6. Not to afford or yield.
To deny ones self, is to decline the gratification of appetites or desires; to refrain from; to abstain. The temperate man denies himself the free use of spirituous liquors. I denied myself the pleasure of your company.
God cannot deny himself. He cannot act in contradiction to his character and promises. He cannot be unfaithful. 2 Timothy 2.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

v
1: declare untrue; contradict; "He denied the allegations"; "She denied that she had taken money" [ant: acknowledge, admit]
2: refuse to accept or believe; "He denied his fatal illness"
3: refuse to grant, as of a petition or request; "The dean denied the students' request for more physics courses"; "the prisoners were denied the right to exercise for more than 2 hours a day"
4: refuse to let have; "She denies me every pleasure"; "he denies her her weekly allowance" [syn: deny, refuse] [ant: allow, grant]
5: deny oneself (something); restrain, especially from indulging in some pleasure; "She denied herself wine and spirits" [syn: deny, abnegate]
6: deny formally (an allegation of fact by the opposing party) in a legal suit [syn: traverse, deny]
7: refuse to recognize or acknowledge; "Peter denied Jesus"

Merriam Webster's

transitive verb (denied; denying) Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French deneier, denier, from Latin denegare, from de- + negare to deny — more at negate Date: 14th century 1. to declare untrue <deny an allegation> 2. to refuse to admit or acknowledge ; disavow <deny responsibility> 3. a. to give a negative answer to <denying the petitioners> b. to refuse to grant <deny a request> c. to restrain (oneself) from gratification of desires 4. archaic decline 5. to refuse to accept the existence, truth, or validity of • denyingly adverb Synonyms: deny, gainsay, contradict, contravene mean to refuse to accept as true or valid. deny implies a firm refusal to accept as true, to grant or concede, or to acknowledge the existence or claims of <denied the charges>. gainsay implies disputing the truth of what another has said <no one can gainsay her claims>. contradict implies an open or flat denial <her account contradicts his>. contravene implies not so much an intentional opposition as some inherent incompatibility <laws that contravene tradition>.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v.tr. (-ies, -ied) 1 declare untrue or non-existent (denied the charge; denied that it is so; denied having lied). 2 repudiate or disclaim (denied his faith; denied his signature). 3 (often foll. by to) refuse (a person or thing, or something to a person) (this was denied to me; denied him the satisfaction). 4 refuse access to (a person sought) (denied him his son). Phrases and idioms: deny oneself be abstinent. Derivatives: denier n. Etymology: ME f. OF denier f. L denegare (as DE-, negare say no)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Deny De*ny", v. i. To answer in ??? negative; to declare an assertion not to be true. Then Sarah denied, saying, I laughed not; for she was afraid. --Gen. xviii. 15.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Deny De*ny", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Denied; p. pr. & vb. n. Denying.] [OE. denien, denaien, OF. denier, deneer, F. d['e]nier, fr. L. denegare; de- + negare to say no, deny. See Negation.] 1. To declare not to be true; to gainsay; to contradict; -- opposed to affirm, allow, or admit. Note: We deny what another says, or we deny the truth of an assertion, the force of it, or the assertion itself. 2. To refuse (to do something or to accept something); to reject; to decline; to renounce. [Obs.] ``If you deny to dance.'' --Shak. 3. To refuse to grant; to withhold; to refuse to gratify or yield to; as, to deny a request. Who finds not Providence all good and wise, Alike in what it gives, and what denies? --Pope. To some men, it is more agreeable to deny a vicious inclination, than to gratify it. --J. Edwards. 4. To disclaim connection with, responsibility for, and the like; to refuse to acknowledge; to disown; to abjure; to disavow. The falsehood of denying his opinion. --Bancroft. Thou thrice denied, yet thrice beloved. --Keble. To deny one's self, to decline the gratification of appetites or desires; to practice self-denial. Let him deny himself, and take up his cross. --Matt. xvi. 24.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(denies, denying, denied) Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English. 1. When you deny something, you state that it is not true. She denied both accusations... The government has denied that there was a plot to assassinate the president... They all denied ever having seen her. ? admit VERB: V n, V that, V -ing 2. If you deny someone something that they need or want, you refuse to let them have it. If he is unlucky, he may find that his ex-partner denies him access to his children... Don't deny yourself pleasure... = refuse VERB: V n n, V pron-refl n

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

de-ni': This word is characteristic of the New Testament rather than the Old Testament, although it translates three different Hebrew originals, namely, kachash, "to lie," "disown" (Ge 18:15; Jos 24:27; Job 8:18; 31:28; Pr 30:9); mana`, "to withhold," "keep back" (1Ki 20:7; Pr 30:7); shubh, "to turn back," "say no" (1Ki 2:16).

In the New Testament, antilego, is once translated "deny," in the case of the Sadducees who denied the resurrection (Lu 20:27 the King James Version), and where it carries the sense of speaking against the doctrine. But the word commonly is arneomai, with or without the prefix ap-. In the absence of the prefix the sense is "to disown," but when it is added it means "to disown totally" or to the fullest extent. In the milder sense it is found in Mt 10:33; 26:70,72; of Simon Peter, Mr 14:68,70 (Ac 3:13,14; 2Ti 2:12,13; 2Pe 2:1; 1 Joh 2:22,23; Jude 1:4; Re 2:13; 3:8). But it is significant that the sterner meaning is associated with Mt 16:24 and its parallels, where Christ calls upon him who would be His disciple to deny himself and take up his cross and follow Him. See also PETER, SIMON.

James M. Gray

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

v. a. 1. Contradict, gainsay, declare to be untrue. 2. Renounce, abjure, disown, disavow, abnegate, refuse to acknowledge. 3. Withhold, refuse to grant.

Moby Thesaurus

abandon, abjure, abstain, answer, answer conclusively, argue down, assert the contrary, avoid, back down, back out, backwater, ban, bar, be contrary to, begrudge, belie, brush aside, call into question, challenge, chuck, chuck out, climb down, close the hand, confound, confute, constrain, contemn, contest, contradict, contravene, controvert, counter, crawfish out, cross, crush, curb, debar, decline, defeat, demolish, desert, despise, disaffirm, disallow, disapprove, disavow, disbelieve, discard, disclaim, discount, discredit, disdain, dismiss, disown, dispose of, disprove, dispute, disregard, eat crow, eat humble pie, embargo, enjoin, eschew, except, exclude, exclude from, finish, floor, forbear, forbid, forgo, forsake, forswear, gag on, gainsay, grudge, hold back, ignore, impugn, inhibit, interdict, join issue upon, keep back, misbelieve, negate, negative, nonplus, not accept, not admit, not believe, not buy, not swallow, nullify, oppose, oppugn, outlaw, overthrow, overturn, overwhelm, parry, pass by, pass up, preclude, prevent, prohibit, proscribe, push aside, put to silence, rebuff, rebut, recall, recant, reduce to silence, refrain, refuse, refuse to admit, refuse to consider, refuse to credit, refute, reject, renege, renounce, repel, repress, repudiate, repulse, restrain, retract, revoke, rule out, sacrifice, say no to, scout, settle, shove away, shun, shut out, shut up, silence, smash all opposition, spurn, squash, squelch, subvert, suppress, swallow, taboo, take back, take issue with, throw away, throw out, traverse, turn away, turn down, turn out, unbelieve, undermine, unsay, upset, waive, withdraw, withhold