Discredit

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TO DISCREDIT, practice, evidence. To deprive one of credit or confidence.
2. In general, a party may discredit a witness called by the opposite party, who testifies against him, by proving that his character is such as not to entitle him to credit or confidence, or any other fact which shows he is not, entitled to belief. It is clearly settled, also, that the party voluntarily calling a witness, cannot afterwards impeach his character for truth and veracity. 1 Moo. & Rob. 414; 3 B. & Cress. 746; S. C. 10 Eng. Com. Law R. 220. But if a party calls a witness, who turns out unfavorable, he may call another to prove the same point. 2 Campb. R. 556 2 Stark. R. 334; S. C. 3 E. C. L. R. 371 1 Nev & Man. 34; 4 B. & Adolph. 193; S. C. 24 E. C. L. R. 47; 1 Phil. Ev. 229; Rosc. Civ. Ev. 96.

A Law Dictionary, Adapted to the Constitution and Laws of the United States. By John Bouvier. Published 1856.

References in periodicals archive ?

IMMEDIATELY before castigating Mr Gray for referencing a supposed global warming "discredited scam", Mr Bennett again repeats the utterly discredited "97% of scientists" mantra.

Less arguing, more action; Letters

ETYK said it was not its intention to deal with who was responsible for the present crisis but it felt the need to condemn any action that discredited the institutions and deepened the values crisis plaguing Cyprus.

Bank employees union calls for work stoppage over CBC debacle

No, it is their revision of their hot summer prediction that discredits them most.

Met Office get it wrong again

All of this, of course, is being used to discredit as a "conspiracy theory wacko" anyone who challenges any part of the government's official line on the September 11 attacks, as well as anyone who questions the government's incremental police-state response to 9/11 in the name of "homeland security."

9-11 conspiracy fact & fiction: an abundance of sensational and irrational conjecture about the September 11 terrorist attacks is being used to discredit any consideration of conspiracy in general

"Measuring Globalization," a study in the January/February 2003 issue of Foreign Policy, discredits this bedrock principle of political environmentalism.

Green earth. (Data)

It discredits the jersey." There was consolation for Smith in the form of a Heineken Cup place which was guaranteed by Wasps' defeat at Sale.

RUGBY UNION: ZURICH PREMIERSHIP PLAY-OFFS: EXILES 'DISGRACE' L. Irish 14 Northampton 38

In Brown's famous and frequently anthologized essay "Negro Character As Seen By White Authors," he invalidates the ethnographic claims of literary artists who exploited the so-called Negro as literary subject, and in so doing he discredits the entire ethnographic enterprise widely embraced by the academy and the literati of his era.

Sterling Brown: an ethnographic perspective

Schaefer discredits that propaganda by simply retelling his story, with personal vignettes of fellow "knights" -- local mountain people, guides and farmers, and some who founded and led The Wildernes Society.

Adirondack Cabin Country

But having put the issues on the table, he discredits himself by pointing fingers, which only hampers any progress toward finding a middle ground.

The De-Valuing of America: The Fight for Our Culture and Our Children

Yet evidence from the fossilized bodies of surface plankton discredits this explanation, says Sejrup.

Volcanoes reign when Iceland thaws

To break such a promise and to change their votes according to the parliamentary arithmetic is exactly what discredits British politics: acting without principles at all.

Letter: Broken promises

Prefrontal lobotomy is perhaps the most infamous of many discredited treatments that were introduced as a great solution to severe brain disorders such as schizophrenia.