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
MPs have been presented with proposals to refurbish the ailing Palace of Westminster, including a plan that could cost almost £40bn and take 61 years to complete.
From BBC ● Feb. 17, 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
Tools for Self Reliance, based in Netley Marsh, Hampshire, collects and refurbishes equipment no longer needed in the UK and sends it abroad to help fledgling businesses.
From BBC ● Apr. 22, 2026
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
BBB, a privately held Alabama-based company which refurbishes car parts, did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
From Reuters ● Aug. 2, 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
Once they burned out, these boosters landed in the ocean, where they were recovered, refurbished and reused — including, now, in the museum.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 28, 2026
The Haitians were paying taxes and refurbishing the downcast city; sometimes, they even refurbished houses they were only renting.
From Slate ● Oct. 28, 2026
They added that, once restored and refurbished, the building would be "used for the benefit of the wider community of Middleton who rightly cherish it as an important part of Middleton's rich and varied heritage".
From BBC ● Sep. 30, 2026
The company has its own auction house, which last year sold the late Pope Francis’ M-A camera for roughly $7.5 million, and has started selling refurbished models through its stores.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 27, 2026
The Captain made both me and Call sit down in his clean, refurbished living room.
From "Jacob Have I Loved" by Katherine Paterson
He said this was a "real and rising... grave risk" and criticised "a political allergy to gripping the nettle" of refurbishing Parliament after years of delay.
From BBC ● Nov. 5, 2026
The Haitians were paying taxes and refurbishing the downcast city; sometimes, they even refurbished houses they were only renting.
From Slate ● Oct. 28, 2026
They view Viva Energy’s strategic pivot toward refurbishing many retail filling stations as self-serve 24-hour outlets as a prudent step that reduces its capital-expenditure burden and probably improves returns in the current economic environment.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026
The leasing option could also benefit Apple’s refurbishing program, Feinseth said.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 28, 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
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
