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refuse - Meaning and Examples

Meaning of 'refuse' (Webster Dictionary)

1 . Refuse [ a.]
- Refused; rejected; hence; left as unworthy of acceptance; of no value; worthless.
2 . Refuse [ n.]
- Refusal.
- That which is refused or rejected as useless; waste or worthless matter.
3 . Refuse [ v. i.]
- To deny compliance; not to comply.
4 . Refuse [ v. t.]
- To deny, as a request, demand, invitation, or command; to decline to do or grant.
- 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.
- To decline to accept; to reject; to deny the request or petition of; as, to refuse a suitor.
- To disown.

Meaning of 'refuse' (Princeton's WordNet)

1 . refuse [ v]
Meaning (1):
- refuse entrance or membership
Example in sentence:
  • Black people were often rejected by country clubs;
  • They turned away hundreds of fans
Meaning (2):
- refuse to accept
Example in sentence:
  • dishonor checks and drafts;
  • He refused my offer of hospitality
Meaning (3):
- show unwillingness towards
Example in sentence:
  • he declined to join the group on a hike
Meaning (4):
- refuse to let have
Example in sentence:
  • he denies her her weekly allowance;
  • She denies me every pleasure
Meaning (5):
- resist immunologically the introduction of some foreign tissue or organ
Example in sentence:
  • His body rejected the liver of the donor
Meaning (6):
- elude, especially in a baffling way
Example in sentence:
  • This behavior defies explanation

Nearby Words:

refaction refar refashion refashionment refasten refect refection refective refectories refectory

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