oppugn

American  

[uh-pyoon] / əˈpyun /

verb (used with object)

1. to assail by criticism, argument, or action.

2. to call in question; dispute.

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oppugn British  

/ əˈpjuːn /

verb

1. (tr) to call into question; dispute

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Other Word Forms

• oppugner noun
• unoppugned adjective

Etymology

Origin of oppugn

1400–50; late Middle English < Latin oppugnāre to oppose, attack, equivalent to op- op- + pugnāre to fight, derivative of pugnus fist; pugilism

Example Sentences

Say, could not you twins, now, once come forward and speak as petition-masters-general in the halls of the Diet, or, as magistri sententiarum, oppugn one another within the walls of the universities on Commencement days?

From Titan: A Romance v. 1 (of 2) by Richter, Jean Paul Friedrich

For, though behind by a cannon or schooner, That nation still is predominant Whose pulse beats quickest in zeal to oppugn or Succour another, in wrong or want, Passing the frontier in love and abhorrence.

From The Poetical Works of Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Volume IV by Browning, Elizabeth Barrett

Also, g before n, as gnat, gnaw, gnarl, gnome, gnash, reign, deign, sign, consign, assign, design, condign, benign, impugn, oppugn, arraign, campaign.

From Guide to the Kindergarten and Intermediate Class and Moral Culture of Infancy. by Mann, Mary E.

A skeptic can only doubt, never oppugn the gospel.

From The Christian Foundation, Or, Scientific and Religious Journal, May, 1880 by Walker, Aaron

Either, therefore, he who oppugns incorporeal quality seems also to oppugn unqualified matter; or separating the one from the other, he mutually parts them both.

From Complete Works of Plutarch — Volume 3: Essays and Miscellanies by Plutarch