REFUSE

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does refuse mean? 

• REFUSE (noun)
  The noun REFUSE has 1 sense:

1. food that is discarded (as from a kitchen)

  Familiarity information: REFUSE used as a noun is very rare.

• REFUSE (verb)
  The verb REFUSE has 6 senses:

1. show unwillingness towards

2. refuse to accept

3. elude, especially in a baffling way

4. refuse to let have

5. resist immunologically the introduction of some foreign tissue or organ

6. refuse entrance or membership

  Familiarity information: REFUSE used as a verb is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• REFUSE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Food that is discarded (as from a kitchen)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

Synonyms:

food waste; garbage; refuse; scraps

Hypernyms ("refuse" is a kind of...):

waste; waste material; waste matter; waste product (any materials unused and rejected as worthless or unwanted)

• REFUSE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they refuse ... he / she / it refuses   
Past simple: refused   
Past participle: refused   
-ing form: refusing   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Show unwillingness towards

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

decline; refuse

Context example:

he declined to join the group on a hike

Hypernyms (to "refuse" is one way to...):

react; respond (show a response or a reaction to something)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "refuse"):

disdain; freeze off; pooh-pooh; reject; scorn; spurn; turn down (reject with contempt)

contract out (refuse to pay a levy to a union for political use)

regret (decline formally or politely)

repudiate (refuse to recognize or pay)

disobey (refuse to go along with; refuse to follow; be disobedient)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Somebody ----s to INFINITIVE

Sentence example:

They refuse to move

Antonym:

accept (give an affirmative reply to; respond favorably to)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Refuse to accept

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Synonyms:

decline; pass up; refuse; reject; turn down

Context example:

He refused my offer of hospitality

Verb group:

disdain; freeze off; pooh-pooh; reject; scorn; spurn; turn down (reject with contempt)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "refuse"):

dishonor; dishonour (refuse to accept)

bounce (refuse to accept and send back)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s something from somebody

Sentence example:

They refuse the money

Antonym:

accept (receive willingly something given or offered)

Derivation:

refusal (a message refusing to accept something that is offered)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Elude, especially in a baffling way

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Synonyms:

defy; refuse; resist

Context example:

This behavior defies explanation

Hypernyms (to "refuse" is one way to...):

elude; escape (be incomprehensible to; escape understanding by)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "refuse"):

beggar (be beyond the resources of)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s something

Sense 4

Meaning:

Refuse to let have

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Synonyms:

deny; refuse

Context example:

he denies her her weekly allowance

Hypernyms (to "refuse" is one way to...):

hold on; keep (retain possession of)

Verb group:

abnegate; deny (deny oneself (something); restrain, especially from indulging in some pleasure)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "refuse"):

keep back; withhold (hold back; refuse to hand over or share)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody something

Sentence example:

They refuse them the money

Derivation:

refusal (the act of refusing)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Resist immunologically the introduction of some foreign tissue or organ

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Synonyms:

refuse; reject; resist

Context example:

His body rejected the liver of the donor

Hypernyms (to "refuse" is one way to...):

react; respond (show a response or a reaction to something)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s something

Sense 6

Meaning:

Refuse entrance or membership

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Synonyms:

refuse; reject; turn away; turn down

Context example:

Black people were often rejected by country clubs

Verb group:

disdain; freeze off; pooh-pooh; reject; scorn; spurn; turn down (reject with contempt)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Derivation:

refusal (the act of refusing)

 Context examples 

"It has been refused by twenty-seven of them."

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

I did not refuse it, for my appetite was awakened and keen.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Had undoubtedly been to South America, but refused to say exactly where.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

After a moment's pause, Captain Wentworth said—Do you mean that she refused him?

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

That you could refuse such a man as Henry Crawford seems more than they can understand.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

Yes, I saw they refused to be interviewed.

(Health threats caused by mobile phone radiation, EUROPARL TV)

Refuse to accept, recognize or acknowledge.

(Deny, NCI Thesaurus)

When it came to her turn to sing, she stepped back, until at last she was the only one left, and then she could not refuse.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

Nay, since you make such a point of it, I can refuse you nothing.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

Who could refuse approval with your star power?

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)