REJECT

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does reject mean? 

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

1. the person or thing that is rejected or set aside as inferior in quality

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

• REJECT (verb)
  The verb REJECT has 7 senses:

1. refuse to accept or acknowledge

2. refuse to accept

3. deem wrong or inappropriate

4. reject with contempt

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

6. refuse entrance or membership

7. dismiss from consideration or a contest

  Familiarity information: REJECT used as a verb is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• REJECT (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The person or thing that is rejected or set aside as inferior in quality

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

cull; reject

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

deciding; decision making (the cognitive process of reaching a decision)

Derivation:

reject (reject with contempt)

reject (refuse entrance or membership)

• REJECT (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they reject ... he / she / it rejects
Past simple: rejected   
Past participle: rejected   
-ing form: rejecting   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Refuse to accept or acknowledge

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Context example:

The journal rejected the student's paper

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

evaluate; judge; pass judgment (form a critical opinion of)

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

disbelieve; discredit (reject as false; refuse to accept)

repudiate (refuse to acknowledge, ratify, or recognize as valid)

recuse (challenge or except to a judge as being incompetent or interested, in canon and civil law)

reprobate (reject (documents) as invalid)

disown; renounce; repudiate (cast off)

brush aside; brush off; discount; dismiss; disregard; ignore; push aside (bar from attention or consideration)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Somebody ----s that CLAUSE

Antonym:

accept (consider or hold as true)

Derivation:

rejection (the act of rejecting something)

rejective (rejecting or tending to reject)

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 "reject"):

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 reject the money

Derivation:

rejection (the act of rejecting something)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Deem wrong or inappropriate

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

disapprove; reject

Context example:

I disapprove of her child rearing methods

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

evaluate; judge; pass judgment (form a critical opinion of)

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

object (express or raise an objection or protest or criticism or express dissent)

deprecate (express strong disapproval of; deplore)

deter; discourage (try to prevent; show opposition to)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

rejection (the act of rejecting something)

rejective (rejecting or tending to reject)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Reject with contempt

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

disdain; freeze off; pooh-pooh; reject; scorn; spurn; turn down

Context example:

She spurned his advances

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

decline; refuse (show unwillingness towards)

Verb group:

decline; pass up; refuse; reject; turn down (refuse to accept)

refuse; reject; turn away; turn down (refuse entrance or membership)

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

rebuff; repel; snub (reject outright and bluntly)

Sentence frames:

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

Derivation:

reject (the person or thing that is rejected or set aside as inferior in quality)

rejective (rejecting or tending to reject)

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 "reject" 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

Antonym:

admit (allow to enter; grant entry to)

Derivation:

reject (the person or thing that is rejected or set aside as inferior in quality)

Sense 7

Meaning:

Dismiss from consideration or a contest

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Synonyms:

eliminate; reject; rule out; winnow out

Context example:

This possibility can be eliminated from our consideration

Sentence frames:

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

 Context examples 

Most people have had the experience of wanting to minimize the hurt of the person they are rejecting.

(Sometimes You Shouldn't Say Sorry, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

It is also used to treat GVHD and after a kidney transplant to help keep the body from rejecting the kidney.

(Anti-Thymocyte Globulin, NCI Dictionary)

It had been rejected right and left by the magazines.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

I tried to comfort her on this point, but she rejected consolation.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Like him, she had tried the scheme and rejected it; but such an alternative as this had not occurred to her.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

A drug used to keep a patient from rejecting a transplanted kidney.

(Azathioprine sodium, NCI Dictionary)

If you have a transplant, you must take drugs for the rest of your life, to keep your body from rejecting the new kidney.

(Kidney Transplantation, NIH: National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases)

But you do not reject me, Maude?

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

People who have transplants must take drugs to keep their body from rejecting the new pancreas for the rest of their lives.

(Pancreas Transplantation, NIH)

If you have a transplant, you must take drugs the rest of your life to help keep your body from rejecting the new organ.

(Organ Transplantation, NIH)