Refuse
[rɪ'fjuːz] or [ri'fjʊz]
Definition
(verb.) show unwillingness towards; 'he declined to join the group on a hike'.
(verb.) refuse to accept; 'He refused my offer of hospitality'.
Typist: Louis--From WordNet
Definition
(v. t.) To deny, as a request, demand, invitation, or command; to decline to do or grant.
(v. t.) 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.
(v. t.) To decline to accept; to reject; to deny the request or petition of; as, to refuse a suitor.
(v. t.) To disown.
(v. i.) To deny compliance; not to comply.
(n.) Refusal.
(n.) That which is refused or rejected as useless; waste or worthless matter.
(a.) Refused; rejected; hence; left as unworthy of acceptance; of no value; worthless.
Typist: Terrence
Synonyms and Synonymous
v. a. [1]. Deny, decline.[2]. Reject, repudiate.
n. Dross, scum, dregs, sediment, lees, draff, recrement, rubbish, offal, GARBAGE, scoria, waste matter.
a. Worthless, waste.
Checker: Wilmer
Synonyms and Antonyms
SYN:Deny, withhold, reject, decline, repudiate
ANT:Grant, afford, yield, concede, acquiesce
SYN:Offal, scum, dregs, sediment, recrement, sweepings, trash, offscourings,debris, remains, dross
ANT:Cream, pickings, firstfruits, flower, prime
Checked by Beth
Definition
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.
v.t. to melt again.—n. Rēfū′sion repeated fusion or melting as of metals: restoration.
adj. refused: worthless.—n. that which is rejected or left as worthless: dross.
Checker: Olivier
Examples
- Often, indeed, when pressed by Hortense to come, she would refuse, because Robert did not second, or but slightly seconded the request. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- And the lips that shall refuse to pledge me to his well-earned fame, I term false and dishonoured, and will so maintain them with my life. Walter Scott. Ivanhoe.
- How could he refuse to answer when he had volunteered what drew forth the question? George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- Our legs would refuse to bear us, our knees would double up, our ankles would turn over, and we should come to the ground. Charles Dickens. Bleak House.
- She may not refuse him twice. Thomas Hardy. The Return of the Native.
- I could not refuse her requeSt. Her features bore the fixed rigidity of death when I entered her room. Harriette Wilson. The Memoirs of Harriette Wilson.
- Tell us all about it, cried Mr. Laurence, who had been longing to lend the lovers a hand, but knew that they would refuse his help. Louisa May Alcott. Little Women.
- I have, and she has refused me, said Caliphronas sullenly. Fergus Hume. The Island of Fantasy.
- The girl refused; and for the first time, and to the astonishment of the majestic mistress of the school. William Makepeace Thackeray. Vanity Fair.
- His excuse was that his father refused his consent. Harriette Wilson. The Memoirs of Harriette Wilson.
- You know that he was once refused by McFarlane's mother? Arthur Conan Doyle. The Return of Sherlock Holmes.
- Fulbert was told of it--told often--but refused to believe it. Mark Twain. The Innocents Abroad.
- I have already refused him. George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- Yes--refused, Rebecca continued, with a sad, tearful voice. William Makepeace Thackeray. Vanity Fair.
- He amazed and horrified his five companions by demanding ordinary food and refusing to continue his self-mortifications. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- Lydgate felt shame, but could not bear to act as if he felt it, by refusing to see Mr. Farebrother; and he went down. George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- I hold that by refusing to work with Mr. Bulstrode I should be turning my back on an opportunity of making my profession more generally serviceable. George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- That was Mr. Ablewhite's revenge on Rachel, for refusing to marry his son! Wilkie Collins. The Moonstone.
- Miss Verinder alone stopped the whole proceeding by refusing point-blank. Wilkie Collins. The Moonstone.
- Supposing him to be attached to me, would my refusing to accept his hand make him wish to bestow it on his cousin? Jane Austen. Pride and Prejudice.
- He was charmed with me, for refusing His Royal Highness. Harriette Wilson. The Memoirs of Harriette Wilson.
- Sometimes soap refuses to form a lather and instead cakes and floats as a scum on the top of the water; this is not the fault of the soap but of the water. Bertha M. Clark. General Science.
- My young lady refuses to have her wardrobe examined. Wilkie Collins. The Moonstone.
- She refuses, with tears, when I appeal to her to speak out for my sake. Wilkie Collins. The Moonstone.
- Well, I propose to him such a marriage as any nobleman in the land might be proud of--the only thing in life I ever asked him--and he refuses me. William Makepeace Thackeray. Vanity Fair.
- I fill my cup to Cedric himself, since he refuses to pledge his son's health. Walter Scott. Ivanhoe.
- Of his own free will he refuses to tell me; now, however, owing to my knowledge of his past, I can force his confidence. Fergus Hume. The Island of Fantasy.
- He refuses to make any abatement, because his threat is, that if he fails with me, he will come to you. Charles Dickens. Little Dorrit.
Typist: Lucas