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REFUSAL
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
A message refusing to accept something that is offered
Classified under:
Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents
Hypernyms ("refusal" is a kind of...):
content; message; subject matter; substance (what a communication that is about something is about)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "refusal"):
declination; regrets (a polite refusal of an invitation)
Derivation:
refuse (refuse to accept)
Sense 2
Meaning:
The act of refusing
Classified under:
Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents
Hypernyms ("refusal" is a kind of...):
denial (the act of refusing to comply (as with a request))
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "refusal"):
repudiation (refusal to acknowledge or pay a debt or honor a contract (especially by public authorities))
prohibition (refusal to approve or assent to)
Derivation:
refuse (refuse to let have)
refuse (refuse entrance or membership)
Context examples:
The same arguments assailed her again; she must go, she should go, and they would not hear of a refusal.
(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)
And their refusals had been cold-blooded, automatic, stereotyped.
(Martin Eden, by Jack London)
I need not point out to you that your refusal to answer will prejudice your case considerably in any future proceedings which may arise.
(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Of so little weight are the greatest services to princes, when put into the balance with a refusal to gratify their passions.
(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)
An eating disorder marked by an intense fear of gaining weight, a refusal to maintain a healthy weight, and a distorted body image.
(Anorexia nervosa, NCI Dictionary)
She had been solicited, when about two-and-twenty, to change her name, by the young man, who not long afterwards found a more willing mind in her younger sister; and Lady Russell had lamented her refusal; for Charles Musgrove was the eldest son of a man, whose landed property and general importance were second in that country, only to Sir Walter's, and of good character and appearance; and however Lady Russell might have asked yet for something more, while Anne was nineteen, she would have rejoiced to see her at twenty-two so respectably removed from the partialities and injustice of her father's house, and settled so permanently near herself.
(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)
A disorder most often seen in adolescent females characterized by a refusal to maintain a minimally normal body weight, an intense fear of gaining weight, a disturbance in body image, and, in postmenarcheal females, the development of amenorrhea.
(Anorexia nervosa, NCI Thesaurus)
In every other way they were our friends—one might almost say our devoted slaves—but when it was suggested that they should help us to make and carry a plank which would bridge the chasm, or when we wished to get from them thongs of leather or liana to weave ropes which might help us, we were met by a good-humored, but an invincible, refusal.
(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
His attachment excited gratitude, his general character respect; but she could not approve him; nor could she for a moment repent her refusal, or feel the slightest inclination ever to see him again.
(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)
My refusals were forgotten—my fears overcome—my wrestlings paralysed.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
