ZebraWords.com - The Definition of 'Refuse', Synonyms of 'Refuse' & More on 'Refuse'

1. WordNet® 3.0 (2006)

refuse
    n 1: food that is discarded (as from a kitchen) [syn: garbage,
         refuse, food waste, scraps]
    v 1: show unwillingness towards; "he declined to join the group
         on a hike" [syn: refuse, decline] [ant: accept,
         consent, go for]
    2: refuse to accept; "He refused my offer of hospitality" [syn:
       refuse, reject, pass up, turn down, decline] [ant:
       accept, have, take]
    3: elude, especially in a baffling way; "This behavior defies
       explanation" [syn: defy, resist, refuse] [ant: apply,
       lend oneself]
    4: refuse to let have; "She denies me every pleasure"; "he
       denies her her weekly allowance" [syn: deny, refuse]
       [ant: allow, grant]
    5: resist immunologically the introduction of some foreign
       tissue or organ; "His body rejected the liver of the donor"
       [syn: resist, reject, refuse]
    6: refuse entrance or membership; "They turned away hundreds of
       fans"; "Black people were often rejected by country clubs"
       [syn: reject, turn down, turn away, refuse] [ant:
       admit, allow in, intromit, let in]

2. The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

Refuse \Re*fuse"\, v. i.
   To deny compliance; not to comply.
   [1913 Webster]

         Too proud to ask, too humble to refuse.  --Garth.
   [1913 Webster]

         If ye refuse . . . ye shall be devoured with the sword.
                                                  --Isa. i. 20.
   [1913 Webster]

3. The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

Refuse \Re*fuse"\, n.
   Refusal. [Obs.] --Fairfax.
   [1913 Webster]

4. The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

Refuse \Ref`use\ (r?f"?s;277), n. [F. refus refusal, also, that
   which is refused. See Refuse to deny.]
   That which is refused or rejected as useless; waste or
   worthless matter.
   [1913 Webster]

   Syn: Dregs; sediment; scum; recrement; dross.
        [1913 Webster]

5. The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

Refuse \Re*fuse"\ (r?*f?z"), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Refused
   (-f?zd"); p. pr. & vb. n. Refusing.] [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.]
   1. To deny, as a request, demand, invitation, or command; to
      decline to do or grant.
      [1913 Webster]

            That never yet refused your hest.     --Chaucer.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. (Mil.) 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.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. To decline to accept; to reject; to deny the request or
      petition of; as, to refuse a suitor.
      [1913 Webster]

            The cunning workman never doth refuse
            The meanest tool that he may chance to use.
                                                  --Herbert.
      [1913 Webster]

   4. To disown. [Obs.] "Refuse thy name." --Shak.
      [1913 Webster]

6. The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

Refuse \Ref"use\, a.
   Refused; rejected; hence; left as unworthy of acceptance; of
   no value; worthless.
   [1913 Webster]

         Everything that was vile and refuse, that they
         destroyed utterly.                       --1. Sam. xv.
                                                  9.
   [1913 Webster]

Thesaurus Results for refuse:

1. Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0

abjure, afterglow, afterimage, balance, ban, bar, be unmoved, be unwilling, beat back, beg off, bilge, bilgewater, bones, brush aside, brush off, butt, butt end, candle ends, carrion, castaway, castoff, chaff, chase, chase away, chase off, chuck, chuck out, collateral, contemn, contradict, culm, cut, deadwood, debar, debris, decline, decline to accept, deep six, deny, deprive of, derelict, despise, detritus, dirt, disagree, disallow, disapprove, discard, discarding, disclaim, discount, disdain, dishwater, dismiss, disown, disposal, disregard, dissent, ditchwater, dogie, draff, dregs, drive away, drive back, dross, dump, dumping, dust, dustheap, elimination, embargo, end, enjoin, except, exclude, exclude from, fag end, fend off, filings, flotsam, flotsam and jetsam, forbid, forswear, fossil, foundling, garbage, gash, hogwash, hold off, hold out against, holdover, husks, ignore, inhibit, interdict, jetsam, jettison, junk, junking, keep back, keep off, kelter, lagan, leavings, lees, leftovers, litter, lumber, muck, negate, negative, not allow, not buy, not consent, not hear of, not think of, odds and ends, offal, offscourings, orphan, orts, outlaw, pack off, parings, pass by, pass up, pelf, potsherds, preclude, prevent, prohibit, proscribe, push aside, push back, put back, rags, raspings, rebuff, recant, refuse consent, refuse to consider, reject, rejectamenta, rejection, relics, remainder, remains, remnant, removal, renounce, repel, repress, reprobate, repudiate, repulse, residue, residuum, resist entreaty, resist persuasion, rest, riffraff, roach, rubbish, ruins, rule out, rump, sawdust, say nay, say no, say no to, scourings, scout, scrap iron, scrapping, scraps, scum, scurf, send away, send off, send packing, sewage, sewerage, shadow, shards, shavings, shove away, shut out, slack, slag, slop, slops, slough, snub, spurn, stand aloof, straw, stubble, stump, suppress, survival, sweepings, swill, taboo, tares, throw away, throw out, throwaway, thrust back, trace, trash, turn away, turn back, turn down, turn out, vestige, vote nay, vote negatively, waif, waifs and strays, waive, ward off, wastage, waste, waste matter, wastepaper, wastrel, weeds, withhold

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