“Quashing” rumours

Question

Some time ago, I read a sentence that went something like:
"The minister--- the rumours of his ill health. "
I have been trying hard to find that attractive synonym of quash, squelch, and other such common synonyms of the word that fills the blank above, but to no avail.
Could anyone help me with this word?
I can remember positively that I read the word from either Merriam-Webster dictionary or the AHD.
And I don't know why I think that the word starts with the letter s. I looked up the synonyms of quash, squelch, and other such words but couldn't hunt down the word I am after.
Any help would be appreciated.

Anton · Answer

He denied, squashed, refuted, discounted, disclaimed, or perhaps stymied the rumour?

Stymie =
to prevent something from happening or someone from achieving a purpose:
”In our search for evidence, we were stymied by the absence of any recent documents.”
Cambridge dictionary

Perhaps he rebuffed or snubbed the rumour. Both words occur in various accounts of sporting controversies but are not peculiar to snooker.

rebuff; transitive verb
to reject or criticize sharply : SNUB
Merriam Webster

Thanasis Karavasilis · Answer

I have found the following examples from recent news that contain the words you mention in your sentence:
From the Economic Times:

Amit Shah quashes rumours of ill-health

From The News Minute:

Amit Shah dispels rumours about his ill health

From Odisha Bytes:

Amit Shah Rubbishes Rumours About His Ill Health

And the closest to the sentence you provided from India.com:

Home Minister Amit Shah Refutes Rumours About His Ill-Health

I couldn't find a synonym that starts with s. Maybe subdue or suppress?

chasly - supports Monica · Answer

Maybe he silenced the rumours.

“Quashing” rumours

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