- 1 [intransitive, transitive] to say that you will not do something that somebody has asked you to do Go on, ask her; she can hardly refuse. refuse to do something He flatly refused to discuss the matter. She refused to accept that there was a problem. More Like This Verbs usually followed by infinitives afford, agree, appear, arrange, attempt, beg, choose, consent, decide, expect, fail, happen, hesitate, hope, intend, learn, manage, mean, neglect, offer, prepare, pretend, promise, refuse, swear, try, want, wishSee worksheet. Oxford Collocations Dictionary adverbabsolutely, utterly, adamantly, … verb + refusecannot, can hardly, be entitled to, … See full entry
- 2 [transitive] refuse something to say that you do not want something that has been offered to you synonym turn somebody/somethingdown I politely refused their invitation. The job offer was simply too good to refuse. Oxford Collocations Dictionary adverbabsolutely, utterly, adamantly, … verb + refusecannot, can hardly, be entitled to, … See full entry
- 3 [transitive] to say that you will not allow something; to say that you will not give or allow somebody something that they want or need synonym deny refuse something The bank refused his demand for a full refund. The authorities refused permission for the new housing development. He refused our request for an interview. The judge refused her application for bail. refuse somebody something They refused him a visa. She would never refuse her kids anything. Oxford Collocations Dictionary adverbabsolutely, utterly, adamantly, … verb + refusecannot, can hardly, be entitled to, … See full entry More Like This Verbs with two objects bet, bring, build, buy, cost, get, give, leave, lend, make, offer, owe, pass, pay, play, post, promise, read, refuse, sell, send, show, sing, take, teach, tell, throw, wish, writeSee worksheet. Word OriginMiddle English: from Old French refuser, probably an alteration of Latin recusare ‘to refuse’, influenced by refutare ‘refute’. More Like This Pronunciation changes by part of speech abuse, alternate, advocate, approximate, contract, converse, convict, decrease, delegate, discount, duplicate, estimate, export, extract, graduate, import, intimate, moderate, object, permit, present, protest, record, refund, refuse, subject, suspect, survey, torment, upgradeSee worksheet. Extra examplesGerard refused point-blank to co-operate. He didn’t dare to refuse. She offered them cups of tea and it seemed churlish to refuse. The Court has repeatedly refused to bend on this point. The demand for an apology was pointedly refused. They made me an offer I couldn’t refuse. Workers should be entitled to refuse to work under these conditions. Go on, ask her. She can hardly refuse. The government has refused all demands for a public enquiry. The judge refused an application for bail. Two patients refused treatment. We invited her to the wedding but she refused.
verb jump to other results
BrE BrE//rɪˈfjuːz//; NAmE NAmE//rɪˈfjuːz//
Verb Forms present simple I / you / we / they refuse BrE BrE//rɪˈfjuːz//; NAmE NAmE//rɪˈfjuːz//
he / she / it refuses BrE BrE//rɪˈfjuːzɪz//; NAmE NAmE//rɪˈfjuːzɪz//
past simple refused BrE BrE//rɪˈfjuːzd//; NAmE NAmE//rɪˈfjuːzd//
past participle refused BrE BrE//rɪˈfjuːzd//; NAmE NAmE//rɪˈfjuːzd//
-ing form refusing BrE BrE//rɪˈfjuːzɪŋ//; NAmE NAmE//rɪˈfjuːzɪŋ//
Check pronunciation: refuse
