Verb

To contradict; to withsay; to deny, refute; to controvert; to dispute; to forbid.

*

* 1902 , , The Hound of the Baskervilles :

Know then that in the time of the Great Rebellion (the history of which by the learned Lord Clarendon I most earnestly commend to your attention) this Manor of Baskerville was held by Hugo of that name, nor can it be gainsaid that he was a most wild, profane, and godless man.

* {{quote-news

, date=2012-07-07 , first= , last= , author= , authorlink= , coauthors= , title= Griffith acted, and lived, by Golden Rule , newspaper=The Post and Courier , city=Charleston , publisher=Evening Post Publishing , quotee= citation , page=5, Features , passage=And there was something childlike about Griffith, too, even in his Matlock days, as a deceptively sharp 'simple country lawyer,' a big-kid boyishness that did not mask his intelligence or gainsay his authority. }}

Verb

(obsolete) To drive away, disperse, shake off; said especially of tumors.

* 1590 , Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene , III.i:

For she was giuen all to fleshly lust, / And poured forth in sensuall delight, / That all regard of shame she had discust , / And meet respect of honour put to flight

* Rambler

a pomade of virtue to discuss pimples

* Sir H. Wotton

Many arts were used to discuss the beginnings of new affection.

To converse or debate concerning a particular topic.

Let's sit down and discuss this rationally.

I don't wish to discuss this further. Let's talk about something else.

(obsolete) To communicate, tell, or disclose (information, a message, etc.).

* , Merry Wives of Windsor , act 1, sc. 3:

Nym : I will discuss the humour of this love to Page.

* , Henry V , act 4, sc. 1:

Pistol : Discuss unto me; art thou officer? Or art thou base, common and popular?

To break to pieces; to shatter.

To deal with, in eating or drinking.

* Sir S. Baker

We sat quietly down and discussed a cold fowl that we had brought with us.

To examine or search thoroughly; to exhaust a remedy against, as against a principal debtor before proceeding against the surety.