oppugn

Verb

oppugn (third-person singular simple present oppugns, present participle oppugning, simple past and past participle oppugned)

1. (rare, transitive) To contradict or controvert; to oppose; to challenge or question the truth or validity of a given statement.
   • If nothing can oppugne love,
     And virtue invious ways can prove,
     What may not he confide to do
     That brings both love and virtue too?1662 (indicated as 1663), [Samuel Butler], “[The First Part of Hudibras]”, in Hudibras. The First and Second Parts. […], London: […] John Martyn and Henry Herringman, […], published 1678; republished...
   • It is for the same reason, that is, because 'tis all comprehended in Slawkenbergius, that I say nothing likewise of Scroderus (Andrea) who all the world knows, set himself to oppugn Prignitz with great violence, ---- proving it in his own way, first logically, and then by a series of stubborn facts1761, Laurence Sterne, The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, volume III, London: R. and J. Dodsley, page 180