| Main Entry: | |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | destroy, ransack |
| Synonyms: | annihilate, break up, capture, consume, cream*, crush, damage, demolish, desecrate, desolate, despoil, devastate, dismantle, disorganize, disrupt, exterminate, extinguish, forage, foray, gut, harry, impair, lay waste, leave in ruins, loot, overrun, overthrow, overwhelm, pillage, pirate, plunder, prey, prostrate, pull down, raid, rape, raze, rob, ruin, sack, seize, shatter, sink, smash, spoil, spoliate, stamp out, strip, sweep away, total*, trample, trash, waste, wreak havoc, wreck, wrest |
| Antonyms: | aid, assist, help, protect |
| Main Entry: | rebel |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | refuse to obey |
| Synonyms: | be insubordinate, boycott, break with, censure, combat, come out against, criticize, defy, denounce, disobey, dissent, drop out, fight, get out of line, insurrect, make waves, mutiny, oppose, opt out, overthrow, overturn, remonstrate, renounce, resist, revolt, riot, rise up, rock the boat, run amok, secede, strike, take up arms, turn against, upset |
| Notes: | to revolt is to refuse to obey the constraints imposed by another; to rebel is to attempt to replace those constraints by a set of one's own |
| Antonyms: | agree, comply, obey |
| Main Entry: | refute |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | prove false; discredit |
| Synonyms: | abnegate, argue against, blow sky high, break, burn, burn down, cancel, cancel out, confute, contend, contradict, contravene, convict, counter, crush, debate, demolish, disclaim, disconfirm, dispose of, disprove, dispute, evert, explode, expose, gainsay, give the lie to, give thumbs down to, invalidate, negate, oppose, overthrow, parry, quash, rebut, reply to, repudiate, shoot down, shoot full of holes, show up, silence, squelch, take a stand against, tear down, top* |
| Notes: | deny means to declare untrue or refuse to accept or believe or to refuse to recognize or acknowledge; refute means to prove to be false, wrong, or incorrect to rebut a statement is to offer clear evidence or a reasoned argument against it; to refute a statement is to prove it wrong (neither means 'contradict' or 'deny') refute means 'to show conclusively to be false or illogical' and applies primarily to assertions or arguments; confute means 'to prove wrong' and applies primarily to the person or agency making the assertion or argument |
| Antonyms: | endorse, prove, ratify, sanction, support |
| Main Entry: | repulse |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | push away |
| Synonyms: | beat off, brush off, check, defeat, drive back, fend off, fight off, heave-ho, hold off, keep off, kick in the teeth, nix, overthrow, push back, put down, rebuff, rebut, reject, repel, resist, set back, stave off, throw back, ward off |
| Antonyms: | attract, enchant |
| Main Entry: | reverse |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | cancel, change |
| Synonyms: | alter, annul, backpedal, backtrack, convert, countermand, declare null and void, dismantle, double back, flip-flop, invalidate, lift, modify, negate, nullify, overrule, overset, overthrow, overturn, quash, recall, renege, repeal, rescind, retract, revoke, set aside, turn around, turn the tables, undo, upset |
| Notes: | contrary describes something that contradicts a proposition, converse is used when the elements of a proposition are reversed, opposite pertains to that which is diametrically opposed to a proposition, and reverse can mean each of those the side of a coin or medal with the main design is the obverse (head), and the other is the reverse (tail) |
| Antonyms: | do, enforce, go ahead, meet, reserve |
| Main Entry: | revolt |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | rebel, rise up against |
| Synonyms: | arise, boycott, break, defect, defy, drop out, get out of line, insurrect, make waves, mutiny, oppose, opt out, overthrow, overturn, renounce, resist, riot, rock the boat, strike, take up arms, turn against |
| Notes: | to revolt is to refuse to obey the constraints imposed by another; to rebel is to attempt to replace those constraints by a set of one's own |
| Antonyms: | comply, harmonize, obey, submit |
| Main Entry: | rout |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | defeat overwhelmingly |
| Synonyms: | bash, beat, blow out of water, bulldoze, bury*, chase, clean up on, clobber, conquer, cream*, crush, cut to pieces, destroy, discomfit, dispel, drive off, expel, finish*, hunt, kill*, lambaste*, larrup, murder*, outmaneuver, overpower, overthrow, put to flight, repulse, scatter, scuttle, shut out, skunk, subdue, subjugate, swamp*, torpedo, total*, trounce, vanquish, wallop, wax, whip, wipe off map, wipe out, worst, zap |
| Notes: | a rout is a disorderly crowd of people or an overwhelming defeat; a root is the usually underground organ of a plant that lacks buds or leaves or nodes and absorbs water and mineral salts - or the form of a word after all affixes are removed; a route is an established line of travel or access - or a road, course, or way for travel from one place to another |
| Antonyms: | win |
| Main Entry: | ruin |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | devastate, destroy |
| Synonyms: | bankrupt, beggar, botch, break, bring down, bring to ruin, bust, clean out, crush, decimate, deface, defeat, defile, demolish, deplete, deplore, depredate, desecrate, despoil, devour, dilapidate, disfigure, do in, drain, exhaust, fleece, impoverish, injure, lay waste, maim, make a mess of, mangle, mar, mutilate, overthrow, overturn, overwhelm, pauperize, pillage, rape, ravish, raze, reduce, sack, shatter, smash, spoil, spoilate, total, use up, wipe out, wrack, wreak havoc on, wreck |
| Notes: | rack is destruction and ruin is destitution; in rack and ruin, rack is a variation of wrack and wreck |
| Antonyms: | build, construct, create, develop, grow |
| Main Entry: | smash |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | defeat, destroy |
| Synonyms: | annihilate, break up, decimate, demolish, destruct, disrupt, lay in ruins, lay waste, overthrow, overturn, put out of action, put out of commission, raze, ruin, shatter, tear down, topple, trash, tumble, wreck |
| Antonyms: | fail, lose |