Soldiers interrupt girl proving false (9)

I believe the answer is:

rebutting

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'proving false' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both related to thinking as well as being present participle verbs.
Maybe they are linked in a way I don't understand?

'soldiers interrupt girl' is the wordplay.
'soldiers' becomes 're' (Royal Engineers).
'interrupt' becomes 'buttin' (butting in is a kind of interrupting).
'girl' becomes 'g'.
're'+'buttin'+'g'='REBUTTING'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for rebutting that I've seen before include "Repelling" , "Negating" , "Buttering up by way of disproving" , "Refuting" .)

I've seen this clue in The Daily Express.

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