Adjacent Words

Refuse definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

REFU'SE, v.t. s as z. [L. recuso; re and the root of causor, to accuse; causa, cause. The primary sense of causor is to drive, to throw or thrust at, and recuso is to drive back, to repel or repulse, the sense of refuse.]
1. To deny a request, demand, invitation or command; to decline to do or grant what is solicited, claimed or commanded.
Thus Edom refused to give Israel passage through his border. Numbers 20.
2. To decline to accept what is offered; as, to refuse an office; to refuse an offer.
If they refuse to take the cup at thy hand - Jeremiah 25.
3. To reject; as, to refuse instruction or reproof.
Proverbs 10.
The stone which the builders refused is become the head of the corner. Psalms 118.
[Note - Refuse expenses rejection more strongly than decline.]
REFU'SE, v.i. s as z. To decline to accept; not to comply.
Too proud to ask, to humble too refuse.
REF'USE, a.
Literally, refused; rejected; hence, worthless; of no value; left as unworthy of reception; as the refuse parts of stone or timber.
Please to bestow on him the refuse letters.
REF'USE, n. That which is refused or rejected as useless; waste matter.
REFU'SE, n. Refusal. Obs.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: food that is discarded (as from a kitchen) [syn: garbage, refuse, food waste, scraps] v
1: show unwillingness towards; "he declined to join the group on a hike" [syn: refuse, decline] [ant: accept, consent, go for]
2: refuse to accept; "He refused my offer of hospitality" [syn: refuse, reject, pass up, turn down, decline] [ant: accept, have, take]
3: elude, especially in a baffling way; "This behavior defies explanation" [syn: defy, resist, refuse] [ant: apply, lend oneself]
4: refuse to let have; "She denies me every pleasure"; "he denies her her weekly allowance" [syn: deny, refuse] [ant: allow, grant]
5: resist immunologically the introduction of some foreign tissue or organ; "His body rejected the liver of the donor" [syn: resist, reject, refuse]
6: refuse entrance or membership; "They turned away hundreds of fans"; "Black people were often rejected by country clubs" [syn: reject, turn down, turn away, refuse] [ant: admit, allow in, intromit, let in]

Merriam Webster's

I. verb (refused; refusing) Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French refuser, from Vulgar Latin *refusare, perhaps blend of Latin refutare to refute and recusare to demur — more at recuse Date: 14th century transitive verb 1. to express oneself as unwilling to accept <refuse a gift> <refuse a promotion> 2. a. to show or express unwillingness to do or comply with <refused to answer the question> b. deny <they were refused admittance to the game> 3. obsolete give up, renounce <deny thy father and refuse thy name — Shakespeare> 4. of a horse to decline to jump or leap over intransitive verb to withhold acceptance, compliance, or permission Synonyms: see decline • refuser noun II. noun Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French, from refuser Date: 14th century 1. the worthless or useless part of something ; leavings 2. trash, garbage III. adjective Date: 15th century thrown aside or left as worthless

Oxford Reference Dictionary

1. v. 1 tr. withhold acceptance of or consent to (refuse an offer; refuse orders). 2 tr. (often foll. by to + infin.) indicate unwillingness (I refuse to go; the car refuses to start; I refuse!). 3 tr. (often with double object) not grant (a request) made by (a person) (refused me a day off; I could not refuse them). 4 tr. (also absol.) (of a horse) be unwilling to jump (a fence etc.). Derivatives: refusable adj. refuser n. Etymology: ME f. OF refuser prob. ult. f. L recusare (see RECUSANT) after refutare REFUTE 2. n. items rejected as worthless; waste. Etymology: ME, perh. f. OF refusé past part. (as REFUSE)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Refuse Re*fuse" (r?*f?z"), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Refused (-f?zd"); p. pr. & vb. n. Refusing.] [F. refuser, either from (assumed) LL. refusare to refuse, v. freq. of L. refundere to pour back, give back, restore (see Refund to repay), or. fr. L. recusare to decline, refuse cf. Accuse, Ruse), influenced by L. refutare to drive back, repel, refute. Cf. Refute.] 1. To deny, as a request, demand, invitation, or command; to decline to do or grant. That never yet refused your hest. --Chaucer. 2. (Mil.) To throw back, or cause to keep back (as the center, a wing, or a flank), out of the regular aligment when troops ar? about to engage the enemy; as, to refuse the right wing while the left wing attacks. 3. To decline to accept; to reject; to deny the request or petition of; as, to refuse a suitor. The cunning workman never doth refuse The meanest tool that he may chance to use. --Herbert. 4. To disown. [Obs.] ``Refuse thy name.'' --Shak.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Refuse Re*fuse", v. i. To deny compliance; not to comply. Too proud to ask, too humble to refuse. --Garth. If ye refuse . . . ye shall be devoured with the sword. --Isa. i. 20.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Refuse Re*fuse", n. Refusal. [Obs.] --Fairfax.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Refuse Ref`use (r?f"?s;277), n. [F. refus refusal, also, that which is refused. See Refuse to deny.] That which is refused or rejected as useless; waste or worthless matter. Syn: Dregs; sediment; scum; recrement; dross.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Refuse Ref"use, a. Refused; rejected; hence; left as unworthy of acceptance; of no value; worthless. Everything that was vile and refuse, that they destroyed utterly. --1. Sam. xv. 9.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(refusing, refused) Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English. 1. If you refuse to do something, you deliberately do not do it, or you say firmly that you will not do it. He refused to comment after the trial... He expects me to stay on here and I can hardly refuse. VERB: V to-inf, V 2. If someone refuses you something, they do not give it to you or do not allow you to have it. The United States has refused him a visa... The town council had refused permission for the march. VERB: V n n, V n 3. If you refuse something that is offered to you, you do not accept it. The patient has the right to refuse treatment. = turn down VERB: V n 4. Refuse consists of the rubbish and all the things that are not wanted in a house, shop, or factory, and that are regularly thrown away; used mainly in official language. The District Council made a weekly collection of refuse. = waste, rubbish

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

re-fuz': Formerly used with the additional meaning "reject," and hence, the change from the King James Version to the Revised Version (British and American) in 1Sa 16:7; Eze 5:6; 1Ti 4:4; 1Pe 2:7, etc.

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. v. a. 1. Deny, decline. 2. Reject, repudiate, exclude, repel, rebuff, decline. II. n. Dross, scum, dregs, sediment, lees, draff, recrement, rubbish, trash, offscum, offscouring, scoria, slag, offal, garbage, waste matter. III. a. Worthless, waste, refused, rejected.

Moby Thesaurus

abjure, afterglow, afterimage, balance, ban, bar, be unmoved, be unwilling, beat back, beg off, bilge, bilgewater, bones, brush aside, brush off, butt, butt end, candle ends, carrion, castaway, castoff, chaff, chase, chase away, chase off, chuck, chuck out, collateral, contemn, contradict, culm, cut, deadwood, debar, debris, decline, decline to accept, deep six, deny, deprive of, derelict, despise, detritus, dirt, disagree, disallow, disapprove, discard, discarding, disclaim, discount, disdain, dishwater, dismiss, disown, disposal, disregard, dissent, ditchwater, dogie, draff, dregs, drive away, drive back, dross, dump, dumping, dust, dustheap, elimination, embargo, end, enjoin, except, exclude, exclude from, fag end, fend off, filings, flotsam, flotsam and jetsam, forbid, forswear, fossil, foundling, garbage, gash, hogwash, hold off, hold out against, holdover, husks, ignore, inhibit, interdict, jetsam, jettison, junk, junking, keep back, keep off, kelter, lagan, leavings, lees, leftovers, litter, lumber, muck, negate, negative, not allow, not buy, not consent, not hear of, not think of, odds and ends, offal, offscourings, orphan, orts, outlaw, pack off, parings, pass by, pass up, pelf, potsherds, preclude, prevent, prohibit, proscribe, push aside, push back, put back, rags, raspings, rebuff, recant, refuse consent, refuse to consider, reject, rejectamenta, rejection, relics, remainder, remains, remnant, removal, renounce, repel, repress, reprobate, repudiate, repulse, residue, residuum, resist entreaty, resist persuasion, rest, riffraff, roach, rubbish, ruins, rule out, rump, sawdust, say nay, say no, say no to, scourings, scout, scrap iron, scrapping, scraps, scum, scurf, send away, send off, send packing, sewage, sewerage, shadow, shards, shavings, shove away, shut out, slack, slag, slop, slops, slough, snub, spurn, stand aloof, straw, stubble, stump, suppress, survival, sweepings, swill, taboo, tares, throw away, throw out, throwaway, thrust back, trace, trash, turn away, turn back, turn down, turn out, vestige, vote nay, vote negatively, waif, waifs and strays, waive, ward off, wastage, waste, waste matter, wastepaper, wastrel, weeds, withhold