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rebuff definition

re·buff (ri buf′)

noun

  1. an abrupt, blunt refusal of offered advice, help, etc.
  2. any check or repulse

Etymology: MFr rebuffe < It rabbuffo < rabbuffare, to disarrange, altered by metathesis (prob. infl. by buffare, to blow) < baruffare, to scuffle < Langobardic *biraufan, akin to OHG biroufan, to tussle, pluck out

transitive verb

  1. to refuse bluntly; snub
  2. to check or repulse

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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