belie

belie
belie (v.) O.E. beleogan "to deceive by lies," from BE- (Cf. be-) + LIE (Cf. lie) (v.1) "to lie, tell lies." Current sense of "to contradict as a lie" is first recorded 1640s. The other verb lie once also had a formation like this, from O.E. belicgan, which meant "to encompass, beleaguer," and in M.E. was a euphemism for "to have sex with" (i.e. "to lie with carnally").

Etymology dictionary. 2014.

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  • Belie — Be*lie , v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Belied}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Belying}.] [OE. bilien, bili?en, AS. bele[ o]gan; pref. be + le[ o]gan to lie. See {Lie}, n.] 1. To show to be false; to convict of, or charge with, falsehood. [1913 Webster] Their trembling …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • belie — [v1] disprove confute, contradict, contravene, controvert, deny, disaffirm, disagree, explode, gainsay, negate, negative, oppose, repudiate; concepts 54,58 Ant. attest, prove belie [v2] deceive color, conceal, disguise, distort, falsify, garble,… …   New thesaurus

  • belie — index bear false witness, cloak, deceive, disguise, disprove, fake, falsify, feign, lie ( …   Law dictionary

  • belie — *misrepresent, falsify, garble Analogous words: contradict, contravene, negative (see DENY): controvert, *disprove Antonyms: attest Contrasted words: *reveal, discover, disclose: *indicate, bespeak, betoken …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • belie — ► VERB (belying) 1) fail to give a true idea of. 2) show to be untrue or unjustified. ORIGIN Old English, «deceive by lying» …   English terms dictionary

  • belie — [bē lī′, bilī′] vt. belied, belying [ME bilien < OE beleogan, to deceive by lying < be , BE + leogan,LIE2] 1. Archaic to tell lies about 2. to give a false idea of; disguise or misrepresent [his smile belies his anger] …   English World dictionary

  • belie — UK [bɪˈlaɪ] / US verb [transitive] Word forms belie : present tense I/you/we/they belie he/she/it belies present participle belying past tense belied past participle belied formal 1) to make someone or something appear to be different from how… …   English dictionary

  • belie — verb Belie is used with these nouns as the subject: ↑exterior Belie is used with these nouns as the object: ↑nature …   Collocations dictionary

  • belie — [[t]bɪla͟ɪ[/t]] belies, belying, belied 1) VERB If one thing belies another, it hides the true situation and so creates a false idea or image of someone or something. [V n] Her looks belie her 50 years. 2) VERB If one thing belies another, it… …   English dictionary

  • belie — be|lie [ bı laı ] verb transitive VERY FORMAL to make someone or something appear to be different from how they really are: Mr. Kim s black hair belied his age. a. to seem to show that a promise, hope, statement, etc. is not true: The recent… …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

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