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
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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:
IDEX, which sells pumps and valves to a range of industries, said it expected to rebate $14.7 million to customers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
California is set to roll out its own instant rebate program to assist drivers in purchasing their first new or used EV.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2026
First Secretary of State Louise Haigh told the BBC that there was not currently a mechanism in place for mayors to offer a rebate.
From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2026
But he said if he was handed a slice of local income tax, he would "create a new rebate scheme to put money back into people's pockets".
From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2026
There is a rebate of 3% on most goods from the United Kingdom, machinery from Great Britain thus entering free.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 5, Slice 2 "Camorra" to "Cape Colony" by Various
Under the program, the permitting approval process for outdoor seating will be shortened and application fees will be waived or rebated.
From Washington Post ● May 26, 2020
The state of Oklahoma issues the plates and registrations for the Chickasaw and Choctaw Nations and a portion of the fees the state collects are then rebated back to the tribes.
From Washington Times ● Oct. 29, 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
They are held down to the bed by tongues projecting at intervals along their length, which slide into rebated grooves, cut crosswise in the face of the bed.
From Great Fortunes, and How They Were Made by James Dabney McCabe
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
The Commission set itself to finding a way out of the ancient quarrel between shippers and railroads in the matters of rebating and demurrage charges.
From Letters of Franklin K. Lane by Louise Herrick Wall
Netflix also has contributed to the growth of production in other states and countries offering steep tax breaks and rebates to producers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2026
The law also required drug makers to pay the government rebates on medicines prescribed to seniors if their prices increase faster than inflation.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026
In 2022 CBO projected that rebates for Part B drugs administered in physician offices would total $2.3 billion for 2023 and 2024.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026
But there are also a number of reasons to wonder if profits at present levels are temporarily inflated by things such as tariff rebates or the delayed depreciation of artificial-intelligence assets like memory chips.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026
Rockefeller learned to bargain in freight rates, and through a system of special rates and rebates gained advantages over every competitor.
From The New Nation by William E. Dodd
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
