deny

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verb [transitive] British English pronunciation: deny

/dɪˈnaɪ/

present tense
I/you/we/they	deny
he/she/it	denies
present participle	denying
past tense	denied
past participle	denied

1
to say that you did not do something that someone has accused you of doing
deny (that):
A spokesman denied that the company had acted irresponsibly.
deny (doing) something:
He still denies murdering his wife.
deny an allegation/accusation/claim/charge:
Both men have denied the allegations.
vehemently/strenuously/categorically/hotly deny something:
All three athletes vehemently deny taking the drug.
Thesaurus entry for this meaning of deny
1. a.
  to say that something is not true or does not exist
  deny the existence of something:
  Officials have repeatedly denied the existence of a secret report.
  deny a rumour:
  He has denied rumours that he is having an affair with a government minister.
  deny (that):
  Officials continue to deny that drug use is widespread in the sport.
  Thesaurus entry for this meaning of deny
2
formal to say that you do not know a particular person or do not have a particular belief or opinion
Denying his friend was the only way to survive.
Neither man was prepared to deny his religion.
Thesaurus entry for this meaning of deny
3
to refuse to admit to yourself or other people that you have a particular feeling, illness, or problem
I had been denying this anger for years.
Thesaurus entry for this meaning of deny
4
to not allow someone to have something
deny something to someone:
Doctors were accused of denying treatment to older patients.
be denied something:
He had been denied the right to speak to his lawyer.
deny someone something:
There are parents who refuse to deny their children anything.
Thesaurus entry for this meaning of deny
1. a.
  mainly journalism to stop an opponent from winning or scoring
  The home team was denied victory in the dying minutes of the game.
  Thesaurus entry for this meaning of deny

phrases

deny yourself
formal
to not allow yourself to have something that you would like to have
You can lose weight without feeling you are constantly denying yourself.
Thesaurus entry for this meaning of deny
there’s no denying
spoken
used for saying that something is clearly true
There’s no denying her popularity.
there’s no denying (that):
There’s no denying that he was a great man.
Thesaurus entry for this meaning of deny

This is the British English definition of deny. View American English definition of deny.

Change your default dictionary and thesaurus to American English.

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