Dictionary.com
definitions
  • synonyms

refuse1

[ri-fyooz]
See more synonyms for refuse on Thesaurus.com
verb (used with object), re·fused, re·fus·ing.
  1. to decline to accept (something offered): to refuse an award.
  2. to decline to give; deny (a request, demand, etc.): to refuse permission.
  3. to express a determination not to (do something): to refuse to discuss the question.
  4. to decline to submit to.
  5. (of a horse) to decline to leap over (a barrier).
  6. to decline to accept (a suitor) in marriage.
  7. Military. to bend or curve back (the flank units of a military force) so that they face generally to the flank rather than the front.
  8. Obsolete. to renounce.
Show More
verb (used without object), re·fused, re·fus·ing.
  1. to decline acceptance, consent, or compliance.
Show More

Origin of refuse1

1300–50; Middle English refusen < Middle French refuser, Old French ≪ Latin refūsus, past participle of refundere to pour back; see refund1
Related formsre·fus·a·ble, adjectivere·fus·er, nounqua·si-re·fused, adjectiveun·re·fus·a·ble, adjectiveun·re·fused, adjectiveun·re·fus·ing, adjective

Synonyms

See more synonyms for refuse on Thesaurus.com
1. rebuff. Refuse, decline, reject, spurn all imply nonacceptance of something. To decline is milder and more courteous than to refuse, which is direct and often emphatic in expressing determination not to accept what is offered or proposed: to refuse a bribe; to decline an invitation. To reject is even more positive and definite than refuse : to reject a suitor. To spurn is to reject with scorn: to spurn a bribe.

Antonyms

1. accept, welcome.

refuse2

[ref-yoos]
noun
  1. something that is discarded as worthless or useless; rubbish; trash; garbage.
Show More
adjective
  1. rejected as worthless; discarded: refuse matter.
Show More

Origin of refuse2

1325–75; Middle English < Middle French; Old French refus denial, rejection, derivative of refuser to refuse1
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for refuse

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • But the purest and best matrons of Greece refuse to be my guests.

    Philothea

    Lydia Maria Child

  • This request he intended to refuse, and enjoyed in advance the humiliation of young Rushton.

    Brave and Bold

    Horatio Alger

  • "Then come and dine here," said Dick, unable to refuse a neighbour hospitality.

    Viviette

    William J. Locke

  • When the news had spread, others came to join him, and he could not refuse.

  • If the refuse matter were taken from that, there would be nothing left.

British Dictionary definitions for refuse

refuse1

verb
  1. (tr) to decline to accept (something offered)to refuse a present; to refuse promotion
  2. to decline to give or grant (something) to (a person, organization, etc)
  3. (when tr, takes an infinitive) to express determination not (to do something); declinehe refuses to talk about it
  4. (of a horse) to be unwilling to take (a jump), as by swerving or stopping
  5. (tr) (of a woman) to declare one's unwillingness to accept (a suitor) as a husband
Show More
Derived Formsrefusable, adjectiverefuser, noun

Word Origin

C14: from Old French refuser, from Latin refundere to pour back; see refund

refuse2

noun
    1. anything thrown away; waste; rubbish
    2. (as modifier)a refuse collection
Show More

Word Origin

C15: from Old French refuser to refuse 1
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for refuse

v.

c.1300, from Old French refuser "reject, disregard, avoid" (12c.), from Vulgar Latin *refusare, frequentative form from past participle stem of Latin refundere "pour back, give back" (see refund (v.)). Related: Refused; refusing.

Show More

n.

mid-14c., "an outcast;" mid-14c., "a rejected thing, waste material, trash," from Old French refus "waste product, rubbish; refusal, denial, rejection," a back-formation from the past participle of refuser (see refuse (v.)). As an adjective from late 14c., "despised, rejected;" early 15c., "of low quality."

Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper