Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Date: 1300-1400
Origin: gain- 'against' (13-16 centuries) (from Old English gegn) + say

gainsay

 verb
     
gain‧say past tense and past participle gainsaid [transitive usually in negatives] formal
to say that something is not true, or to disagree with someone [= contradict]:
No one dared to gainsay him.
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

Dictionary pictures of the day
Do you know what each of these is called?
What is the word for picture 1? What is the word for picture 2? What is the word for picture 3? What is the word for picture 4?
Click on any of the pictures above to find out what it is called.

Explore our topic dictionary

Browse the dictionary