give the lie to

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

1. idiomatictransitiveTo reveal or prove (something) to be false; to refute.

   They found plenty of emails that gave the lie to his assertion that he didn't know about the incident.

   3 more examples

   As you like this, give me the lie another time.

   1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene iii], page 103, line 84

   The automatic under his pillow gave the lie to that statement.

   1934, Agatha Christie, chapter 9, in Murder on the Orient Express, London: HarperCollins, published 2017, page 262

   The bet against Treasuries gave the lie to a criticism sometimes made of Dalio—that he is basically a bond-market investor, who has benefitted from a twenty-year rally in bonds.

   2011 July 18, John Cassidy, “Mastering the Machine”, in The New Yorker, →ISSN

   Synonyms: give lie to, put the lie to, put lie to, put to lie, belie, contradict