refuse
//ˈɹɛfjuːs//
Forms
- Comparative
- more refuse
- Superlative
- most refuse
- present (v1)
- refuse
- past (v2)
- refused
- past participle (v3)
- refused
- present participle
- refusing
- 3rd person singular
- refuses
Definitions
1.Discarded, rejected.
- Some parents refuse to have their children vaccinated.
1.Collectively, items or material that have been discarded; rubbish, garbage.
1.To decline (a request or demand).
- My request for a pay rise was refused.
- After the death of his [Verney's] first wife, he proposed to Florence Nightingale but she refused him. Later he married her sister, and for many years Claydon was Miss Nightingale's second home.
2.To decline a request or demand, forbear; to withhold permission.
- I refuse to listen to this nonsense any more.
- I asked the star if I could have her autograph, but she refused.
- City were outclassed thereafter and Roberto Mancini said that substitute Carlos Tevez refused to play.
3.To withhold (something) from (someone); to not give it to them or to bar them from having it.
4.To throw back, or cause to keep back (as the centre, a wing, or a flank), out of the regular alignment when troops are about to engage the enemy.
Frequency
Overall
Common· #1339
By learning goal
- Everyday conversation
- Uncommon
- General reading & writing
- Common
- Academic
- Rare
- Literature
- Rare
Etymology
Borrowed into late Middle English from Middle French refusé, past participle of refuser (“to refuse”).
Displaced native Middle English wernen (“to refuse”) likely due to the similar sounding Middle English warnen