The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 4 letter word DENY
I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
D
E
N
Y
More clues leading to the result DENY
- Refuse to accept lie out of stupidity
- Study you initially disprove
- Refuse requests of Democrat initially entering New York
- Contradict Yankee on retreat
- Reject, years after study
- Don’t accept fate: it’s about to be rejected
- Refuse to acknowledge sample from Golden Years
- From ends of road have taken away refuse
- Refuse to acknowledge study, say, in the end
- Refuse dump's opening next to English city
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "refuse" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case refuse = deny.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.
What does DENY mean?
DENY verb- To disallow or reject.
- To assert that something is not true.
- (ditransitive) To refuse to give or grant something to someone.
- To take something away from someone; to deprive of.
- To prevent from scoring.
- To disclaim connection with, responsibility for, etc.; to refuse to acknowledge; to disown; to abjure; to disavow.
- To refuse (to do or accept something).