Definitions for refuse
ˈrɛf yusrefuse

Princeton's WordNet(4.00 / 2 votes)Rate this definition:

1. garbage, refuse, food waste, scrapsverb

   food that is discarded (as from a kitchen)

2. refuse, declineverb

   show unwillingness towards

   "he declined to join the group on a hike"

3. refuse, reject, pass up, turn down, declineverb

   refuse to accept

   "He refused my offer of hospitality"

4. defy, resist, refuseverb

   elude, especially in a baffling way

   "This behavior defies explanation"

5. deny, refuseverb

   refuse to let have

   "She denies me every pleasure"; "he denies her her weekly allowance"

6. resist, reject, refuseverb

   resist immunologically the introduction of some foreign tissue or organ

   "His body rejected the liver of the donor"

7. reject, turn down, turn away, refuseverb

   refuse entrance or membership

   "They turned away hundreds of fans"; "Black people were often rejected by country clubs"

Webster Dictionary(3.00 / 2 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Refuseverb

   to deny, as a request, demand, invitation, or command; to decline to do or grant

2. Refuseverb

   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

3. Refuseverb

   to decline to accept; to reject; to deny the request or petition of; as, to refuse a suitor

4. Refuseverb

   to disown

5. Refuseverb

   to deny compliance; not to comply

6. Refusenoun

   refusal

7. Refusenoun

   that which is refused or rejected as useless; waste or worthless matter

8. Refuseadjective

   refused; rejected; hence; left as unworthy of acceptance; of no value; worthless

9. Etymology: [F. refuser, either from (assumed) LL. refusare to refuse, v. freq. of L. refundere to pour back, give back, restore (see Refund to repay), or. fr. L. recusare to decline, refuse cf. Accuse, Ruse), influenced by L. refutare to drive back, repel, refute. Cf. Refute.]

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Refuse

   rē-fūz′, v.t. to reject: to deny, as a request, &c.: to disown: to fail to receive, to repel: (mil.) to hold troops back from the regular alignment.—v.i. to decline acceptance: not to comply.—adj. Refū′sable, capable of being refused.—ns. Refū′sal, denial of anything requested: rejection: the right of taking in preference to others; Rēfū′ser. [Fr. refuser, prob. due to confusion of L. refutāre, to drive back, recusāre, to make an objection against.]

2. Refuse

   ref′ūs, adj. refused: worthless.—n. that which is rejected or left as worthless: dross.

3. Refuse

   rē-fūz′, v.t. to melt again.—n. Rēfū′sion, repeated fusion or melting, as of metals: restoration.

Suggested Resources(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. refuse

   Song lyrics by refuse -- Explore a large variety of song lyrics performed by refuse on the Lyrics.com website.

Matched Categories

1. • Elude
   • Keep
   • React

British National Corpus

1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'refuse' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #4220

2. Verbs Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'refuse' in Verbs Frequency: #218

How to pronounce refuse?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say refuse in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of refuse in Chaldean Numerology is: 2

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of refuse in Pythagorean Numerology is: 2

Examples of refuse in a Sentence

1. Donald Trump:

   Because the Democrats refuse to negotiate on border security, much of the residence staff at Earlier Monday is furloughed -- so The President is personally paying for the event to be catered with some of everyone's favorite fast foods.

2. Lois McMaster Bujold, Shards of Honor:

   ...tests are a gift. And great tests are a great gift. To fail the test is a misfortune. But to refuse the test is to refuse the gift, and something worse, more irrevocable, than misfortune.

3. Jillian York:

   There are two main risks : The first is to Twitter's employees in India, who may be at risk if the company fails to comply with demands, the second risk is that Twitter continues to refuse and gets blocked in India. While this may be the right moral outcome, it's obviously not the best outcome for the Indian people, many of whom rely on social media to get out key messages about what's happening on the ground.

4. Dorothy Kwan:

   I just wish I knew who to call. Even when a coyote does something aggressive like this, they still refuse to do something, i’m not suggesting we get rid of all coyotes, but this one is out and about in broad daylight and it’s not scared of humans.

5. Plato, The Republic:

   The punishment which the wise suffer who refuse to take part in the government is to live under the government of worse men.

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