/ ˈlaɪbl; NAmE / noun , verb
■ noun
[ U , C ] the act of printing a statement about sb that is not true and that gives people a bad opinion of them :
He sued the newspaper for libel.
a libel action (= a case in a court of law)
—compare slander
■ verb
( -ll- NAmE -l- ) [ vn ] to publish a written statement about sb that is not true :
He claimed he had been libelled in an article the magazine had published.
—compare slander
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WORD ORIGIN
Middle English (in the general sense a document, a written statement ): via Old French from Latin libellus , diminutive of liber book.