17 January 2017
gainsay
[geyn-sey, geyn-sey]
verb (used with object), gainsaid, gainsaying.
1. to deny, dispute, or contradict.
2. to speak or act against; oppose.
Origin of gainsay
Middle English
1250-1300; Middle English gainsaien. See again, say1
Related forms
gainsayer, noun
ungainsaid, adjective
Dictionary.com
Examples from the Web for gainsay
Contemporary Examples
But it will be a cost, and it will be large — nobody can gainsay that.
You Still Can’t Wish Away the Facts on Immigration Amnesty
David Frum
May 12, 2013
As long as the United States was the economic primus inter pares, those arguments were hard to gainsay.
Obama’s G-20 Misfire
Zachary Karabell
November 10, 2010
Historical Examples
Victor was vexed by the stranger’s intrusion, but could not gainsay Mrs. Joyce.
Victor Ollnee’s Discipline
Hamlin Garland
No one who knows half these facts can dispute or gainsay them.
The New Avatar and The Destiny of the Soul
Jirah D. Buck
By some such reasoning as this Lady Dorothea persuaded herself to this course; and who should gainsay her?
The Martins Of Cro’ Martin, Vol. I (of II)
Charles James Lever
The title of Watt the Inventor is world-wide, and is so just and striking that there is none to gainsay.
James Watt
Andrew Carnegie
After the invading army had retired, no one will gainsay the sound sense of his behaviour.
Agesilaus
Xenophon
But no one could gainsay his eagerness and devotion to the cause.
A Tame Surrender, A Story of The Chicago Strike
Charles King
Anagram
as in gay
a saying
a gas yin
is a yang
Today’s quote
Journalism is printing what someone else does not want published; everything else is public relations.
– Anonymous (sometimes ascribed to George Orwell)
Today’s quote
17 January 1899 – birth of Al Capone, who grew up to be one of America’s most famous gangsters. He died on 25 January 1947.
17 January 1942 – birthday of Muhammad Ali (born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr), American professional boxer (former world heavy-weight champion), philanthropist, social activist. Died 3 June 2016.
17 January 1966 – the United States loses 4 H-bombs after the B-52 that was carrying them, collided with a KC-135 tanker during mid-air refuelling. The tanker exploded, killing all 4 crew, the B-52 broke apart, killing 3 of the 7 crew. Three of the hydrogen bombs were located on land near the Spanish town of Palomares. Two of the non-nuclear explosives in the weapons detonated, contaminating 2 km2 with plutonium. The fourth bomb was located 2.5 months later in the Mediterranean Sea.
17 January 1991 – Operation Desert Storm commences after Iraqi President Saddam Hussein refuses to comply with a US directive that he remove his forces from Kuwait. Hussein claimed that Kuwait was stealing Iraqi oil. 32 nations were involved in the Operation to remove Iraqi forces from Kuwait.
17 January 1927 – birth of Eartha Kitt, American singer and actress. She played Catwoman in the 1960’s Batman TV series. Two of her more famous songs were ‘C’est Si Bon’ and ‘Santa Baby’. She died on 25 December 2008.