rebate
1 Americannoun
verb (used with object)
-
rebates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
rebated,
past participle, past
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rebating
present participle
-
to allow as a discount.
-
to deduct (a certain amount), as from a total.
-
to return (part of an original payment).
He rebated five dollars to me.
-
to provide a rebate for (merchandise) after purchase.
The manufacturer is rebating this air conditioner.
-
to blunt (an edged or pointed weapon).
-
to cover the edge or point of (an edged or pointed weapon) in order to make it incapable of cutting or piercing.
verb (used without object)
-
rebates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
rebated,
past participle, past
-
rebating
present participle
noun
noun
noun
verb
-
to deduct (a part) of a payment from (the total)
-
archaic to reduce or diminish (something or the effectiveness of something)
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
rebatesimple
-
rebatessimple
-
have rebatedperfect
-
has rebatedperfect
-
am rebatingprogressive
-
are rebatingprogressive
-
is rebatingprogressive
-
have been rebatingperfect progressive
-
has been rebatingperfect progressive
Past
-
rebatedsimple
-
had rebatedperfect
-
was rebatingprogressive
-
were rebatingprogressive
-
had been rebatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of rebate
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English rebaten (verb), from Old French rabatre “to beat, put down,” from re- re- + (a)batre “to beat” ( see abate)
Explanation
A rebate is a partial refund of the cost of an item. It acts as an incentive to help sell the product. If your new cell phone came with a rebate, you'll get a check in the mail for a certain amount of the cost. A well-known rebate occurred in 2007 when President George Bush issued tax rebate checks to many people in America, giving back some of what each person paid in taxes. Rebate comes from the Old French word rabattre, meaning "beat down, drive back." Rebate can also be used as a verb that refers to giving a reduction in price during a sale. For example, your internet provider might rebate your bill for three months to keep you as a customer.
Vocabulary lists containing rebate
Personal Finance and Financial Literacy - Introductory
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Personal Finance and Financial Literacy - High School
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Personal Finance and Financial Literacy - Middle School
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The risk is compounded by the elimination in 2021 of a rebate program that allowed tourists to reclaim the value-added tax they paid on souvenirs.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 14, 2026
Long said he wanted a rebate as he had been required to pay council tax since moving in and despite disposing of rubbish in skips provided by the estate developer.
From BBC ● Sep. 13, 2026
Discounts: Many premium credit cards will rebate the fee.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026
The government also said that 345,000 Scottish low-income households would now automatically receive the rebate in the winter, bringing Scotland's policy in line with England and Wales.
From BBC ● Aug. 9, 2026
It occurred to Schlimmer that, if he could find enough rebate cases, there would be a good bit of money in it on the division of the fines.
From The Best Policy by Elliott Flower
Yes, it would involve taxing all electric power, but some of that could be rebated based on average per-home power usage before electric vehicles became popular.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 25, 2021
A better idea would be a market-based carbon tax, with revenue rebated to consumers.
From Washington Times ● Aug. 22, 2018
One was a program related to robo-adviser unit Amerivest that rebated some fees for new clients whose portfolios performed poorly.
From Reuters ● Dec. 6, 2016
It will aim to be revenue neutral, however, because Washington’s sales tax will be cut by 1% and further tax rebated will be given to manufacturers and low-income households.
From The Guardian ● Nov. 4, 2016
Some prefer that the sash-bars should be grooved instead of rebated, and this plan exposes less putty to the action of the weather.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 13, Slice 7 "Horticulture" to "Hudson Bay" by Various
UnitedHealth plans to return profits from the Affordable Care Act marketplace to consumers by voluntarily eliminating and rebating profits this year.
From Barron's ● Jan. 26, 2026
Sales have steadily declined since hitting $19.14 billion world-wide in 2015, however, partly because insurers have limited use to the dwindling supply of the sickest patients and Gilead has increased rebating to cope with competition.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2018
“As much as the drugmakers complain about the rebating scheme, they’ve grown as dependent on its subterfuge, opacity and inequity as everyone else in the system,” he wrote.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 10, 2017
It would also create a detailed program for rebating those revenues to economically vulnerable populations who would be adversely affected by the subsequent hit to the fossil fuel industries.
From New York Times ● Nov. 18, 2015
Railroad officers became so arrogant that they seemed to assume that they were above all law; rebating and discrimination were the rule and not the exception.
From Fifty Years of Public Service by Shelby M. Cullom
PBMs receive rebates calculated as a percentage of a drug’s list price, meaning higher-priced brand drugs yield larger payments.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026
An existing bill offering tax rebates on fiber-optic equipment was hastily rewritten to provide tax breaks on data center gear.
From Salon ● Sep. 4, 2026
But with rebates flowing, counterparties are now suing some of these companies for pocketing those higher costs.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 22, 2026
Rival retailer Target recently said it had received $1bn in rebates, boosting its profits.
From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026
They reappear too easily in the form of rebates and even of allowances which belong to the more private chapters of capitalist history.
From British Socialism An Examination of Its Doctrines, Policy, Aims and Practical Proposals by J. Ellis Barker
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