refurbish
Americanverb (used with object)
-
refurbishes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
refurbished,
past participle, past
-
refurbishing
present participle
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
refurbishsimple
-
refurbishessimple
-
have refurbishedperfect
-
has refurbishedperfect
-
am refurbishingprogressive
-
are refurbishingprogressive
-
is refurbishingprogressive
-
have been refurbishingperfect progressive
-
has been refurbishingperfect progressive
Past
-
refurbishedsimple
-
had refurbishedperfect
-
was refurbishingprogressive
-
were refurbishingprogressive
-
had been refurbishingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of refurbish
Explanation
Whether it’s a bike, an old computer, or a tennis stadium, when you refurbish something you clean it up and make it look or perform better. When you refurbish something, you generally keep the structure the same but improve its looks and possibly its functionality. For example, if you renovate a room you may make it "new again" with structural changes, such as tearing down walls and altering its original design. If you refurbish it, however, you will most likely focus on making it look better with cosmetic changes, such as painting it. The word refurbish is also often used to describe secondhand technology that has been rebuilt to restore function by replacing a component that has failed.
Vocabulary lists containing refurbish
100 SAT words Beginning with "R"
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The Suffix -ish, Part 2
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Undefeated
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Apple will have to streamline its process for reclaiming leased hardware and be prepared to refurbish devices at scale once customers return them, Feinseth said.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 28, 2026
While I fruitlessly tapped my L.A. street art connections, Valdez posted in Goodbye Pillarhenge Park: “Looking for the original artist to refurbish the bird.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 29, 2026
Privately held Restore Robotics has the legal clearance to refurbish used da Vinci surgical robotic instruments, which it then sells back to hospitals at a discount.
From Barron's ● Apr. 21, 2026
When MPs and peers last voted on plans to refurbish Parliament in 2018, they backed a motion to leave the building to allow essential repairs.
From BBC ● Mar. 6, 2026
This would be a time to find a sheltered place beside a stream to rest and refurbish.
From "Travels with Charley in Search of America" by John Steinbeck
The company then refurbishes and resells the suitcases.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 24, 2026
Recently I got really into watching this person who finds furniture on the street and refurbishes it.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 21, 2025
Doug Bush, assistant secretary of the Army for acquisition, said the U.S. no longer buys new Abrams, but uses older ones as “seed vehicles” and refurbishes them.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 25, 2023
UK Gym Equipment refurbishes and sells anything that you can find in a gym - treadmills, cross trainers, bikes, rowers and strength machines.
From BBC ● Dec. 8, 2022
He worked in the barbershop for a while, then got a job working for Free Venture, an environmentally certified nonprofit that refurbishes and recycles e-waste on-site.
From "The 57 Bus" by Dashka Slater
After detaching from the rocket's center core, the two boosters returned safely to the launch site, where they can be refurbished.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 31, 2026
The refurbished toilets at Eastbourne Pier, the bandstand, Holywell and Beachy Head are now £1 to use.
From BBC ● Aug. 23, 2026
Plus, buying a refurbished phone, OpenAI’s shaky finances, the $3 trillion in off-balance-sheet AI debt and more.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 23, 2026
The reopening was packed with shoppers, store owners and residents, who milled about the refurbished center and enjoyed free drinks and food offered from kiosks.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 15, 2026
Yet once the project was finished, the press of business kept him from visiting his refurbished vacation home for more than a few weekend days at a time.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
These included refurbishing bikes for donations to the Age Concern Jersey charity, restoring memorial benches, growing plants and vegetables for the prison kitchen and for charity, and helping create wildlife habitats.
From BBC ● Aug. 30, 2026
The leasing option could also benefit Apple’s refurbishing program, Feinseth said.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 28, 2026
Out in the street, a business consultant who recently voted for the left-wing populist Green Party, also worried about illegal migrants, as did a painter who was busy refurbishing Cain’s butcher’s shop.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 23, 2026
He has an unusual business model, finding bikes at yard sales and sometimes making bulk deals, refurbishing them and selling far below what they would cost new.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 1, 2026
Building the synchrotron and the hot lab and refurbishing the 184-inch would cost at least another $605,000.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
