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Glite Dictionary
to give the lie to

to give the lie to

1 8.4
To show that something is not true
  • phrasal verb
  • Formal
translation icon : desmentir
  • Her actions during the meeting gave the lie to his assertion that she was uninterested in the project.

But then when God raises Jesus from the dead, what that does is it gives the lie to that story.

Examples

  • The objections to AB 2109 of Barbara Loe Fisher, NVIC, and other anti-vaccine activists give the lie to their claims that they are pro-informed consent.

    Blog text (10)

  • The evidence from the investigation gave the lie to the defendant's claims of innocence.

  • But then when God raises Jesus from the dead, what that does is it gives the lie to that story.

    Megyn Kelly

  • Which gives the lie to the claim that tax increases reduce hiring.

    Blog text (13)

  • I think part of what Barack Obama is saying is that America has given and must give the lie to that dangerous idea.

  • The picture that emerges from the archaeological record gives the lie to this stereotype.

    Academic text (2001)

  • The subjects had perceived themselves as thinner, a point that gives the lie to the assertion that fat people feel out of control before they literally see themselves as fat.

    Academic text (2014)

  • If we've gained nothing else, we can at least give the lie to those rumors and make the newspapers retract their exaggerations.

    20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954)

  • As foci of constant and passionate controversy, these issues give the lie to ethical criticism's alleged irrelevance.

    Academic text (1998)

  • The complexities of lived religion in a vernacular world continue to give the lie to neat and tidy pigeonholing.

    Academic text (2010)

Synonyms

to set the record straight
vsto give the lie to
42 3.2

Give the true facts to fix a wrong idea

aims to prove falsity rather than just correcting facts or impressions
to belie
vsto give the lie to
26 8.6

Make a person or thing seem different from how they really are

directly proves untruth instead of only creating an impression
to rebut
vsto give the lie to
21 7.0

To say or show that a claim is wrong

typically shows falsehood directly rather than mainly arguing against it
to falsify
vsto give the lie to
12 7.2

To show that an idea or claim is not true

is an idiomatic phrase stating the same proof more colloquially

Antonyms

to validate
  • Formal
87 3.9

To make something officially acceptable by showing proof

How Refuting

to disprove
66 4.5
to give the lie to
  • Formal
1 8.4
to contradict
174 3.7
to cast doubt
17 4.6

Surface Forms

give the lie to infinitive
giving the lie to present participle
gives the lie to third person singular
gave the lie to past
given the lie to past participle

Morphology

give + the + lie + to

The constituent 'lie' (a falsehood) together with 'give' (to provide or present) provides a plausible link to the meaning 'show to be false', so a learner who knows the noun sense of 'lie' might partly infer the idea. However, the fixed phrasing 'give the lie to X' is somewhat idiomatic/archaised and not a fully productive compositional pattern in modern spoken English, so the exact sense is not completely predictable without prior exposure.

Etymology

The phrase give the lie to comes from the old idea of publicly saying 'you lie', as if you give the label lie to someone's words. So give the lie to now means 'to show that something is false'.