Refusal
[rɪ'fjuːz(ə)l] or [rɪ'fjuzl]
Definition
(noun.) a message refusing to accept something that is offered.
(noun.) the act of refusing.
Inputed by Addie--From WordNet
Definition
(n.) The act of refusing; denial of anything demanded, solicited, or offered for acceptance.
(n.) The right of taking in preference to others; the choice of taking or refusing; option; as, to give one the refusal of a farm; to have the refusal of an employment.
Edited by Enrico
Synonyms and Synonymous
n. [1]. Denial.[2]. Option, choice of accepting or declining.
Checked by Evan
Unserious Contents or Definition
n. Denial of something desired; as an elderly maiden's hand in marriage to a rich and handsome suitor; a valuable franchise to a rich corporation by an alderman; absolution to an impenitent king by a priest and so forth. Refusals are graded in a descending scale of finality thus: the refusal absolute the refusal conditional the refusal tentative and the refusal feminine. The last is called by some casuists the refusal assentive.
Inputed by Heinrich
Examples
- One or another on 'em,' said the turnkey, repudiating beforehand the refusal of all his suggestions. Charles Dickens. Little Dorrit.
- Her resolution of refusal only grew more interesting by the addition of a scheme for his subsequent consolation and happiness. Jane Austen. Emma.
- And besides, his passionate refusal to admit the existence of fear, almost inspired Margaret herself with hope. Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell. North and South.
- Then thou dost persist in thy refusal to confess thy guilt, and in that bold challenge which thou hast made? Walter Scott. Ivanhoe.
- Mrs. Jennings received the refusal with some surprise, and repeated her invitation immediately. Jane Austen. Sense and Sensibility.
- There was an immediate refusal on the part of every medical man in the town to become a visitor at the Fever Hospital. George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- I will marry you, in spite of your refusal. Fergus Hume. The Island of Fantasy.
- Their refusal is here called _rebellion_, and punishment is thought of. Benjamin Franklin. Memoirs of Benjamin Franklin.
- Just before the curtain dropped, Worcester seemed again eager to say something on his refusal to accompany me to Amy's. Harriette Wilson. The Memoirs of Harriette Wilson.
- Not very well seeing his way to a refusal, Mr Wegg then rejoined in a gush, '--Hear me out! Charles Dickens. Our Mutual Friend.
- You must give me leave to flatter myself, my dear cousin, that your refusal of my addresses is merely words of course. Jane Austen. Pride and Prejudice.
- I accept your refusal, but you will be mine soon. Fergus Hume. The Island of Fantasy.
- Mr. Grundy's positive refusal to gratify the company occasioned another silence. Charles Dickens. The Pickwick Papers.
- The lady's allusions to her past, and her refusal to take her husband into her confidence, both pointed in that direction. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Return of Sherlock Holmes.
- We will go back for a moment, if you please, to your daughter's refusal to let her wardrobe be examined. Wilkie Collins. The Moonstone.
- And I won't put myself in the way of any more refusals from my servants, so I am going myself. Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell. North and South.
- My refusals were forgotten--my fears overcome--my wrestlings paralysed. Charlotte Bronte. Jane Eyre.
- I spare you the recital of Mrs. Todd's hospitable remonstrances and refusals. Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
Typed by Geoffrey