deny

Verb

deny (third-person singular simple present denies, present participle denying, simple past and past participle denied)

1. (transitive) To disallow or reject.
   • I wanted to go to the party, but I was denied.
   • 'Do! pray do! I shall be the most miserable of men if you don't. You cannot be so cruel as to deny me a favour so easily granted and yet so highly prized!' pleaded he as ardently as if his life depended on it.1847, Anne Brontë, chapter XVI, in Agnes Grey

   Antonyms:

   allow, grant

2. (transitive) To assert that something is not true.
   • to deny a rumour to deny an allegation
   • I deny that I was at the party.

   Synonyms:

   contradict, disclaim, gainsay, refute, withsay

   Antonyms:

   affirm, confirm

3. (ditransitive) To refuse to give or grant something to someone.
   • My father denied me a good education.
   • To some men, it is more agreeable to deny a vicious inclination, than to gratify it.1754, Jonathan Edwards, An Inquiry into the Modern Prevailing Notions Respecting that Freedom of the Will which is supposed to be Essential to Moral Agency

   Antonyms:

   grant

4. To take something away from someone; to deprive of.
5. (transitive) To prevent from scoring.
   • Another Karadeniz cross led to Cudicini's first save of the night, with the Spurs keeper making up for a weak punch by brilliantly pushing away Christian Noboa's snap-shot.
     Two more top-class stops followed quickly afterwards, first from Natcho's rasping shot which was heading into the top corner...2011 November 3, Chris Bevan, “Rubin Kazan 1 - 0 Tottenham”, in BBC Sport
6. To disclaim connection with, responsibility for, etc.; to refuse to acknowledge; to disown; to abjure; to disavow.
   • Jesus prophesied that by the time the cock crowed, Peter would have denied him three times.
   • the falsehood of denying his opinion1834–1874, George Bancroft, History of the United States, from the Discovery of the American Continent, volume (please specify |volume=I to X), Boston, Mass.: Little, Brown and Company [et al.], →OCLC

   Synonyms:

   disclaim, forswear, renounce, abjure, disavow, disown, forsay, repudiate, wash one's hands of

7. (obsolete) To refuse (to do or accept something).
   • if you deny to dancec. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Loues Labour’s Lost”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...