transitive verb refused -·fused′, refusing -·fus′·ing

1. to decline to accept; reject
2. 1. to decline to do, give, or grant
   2. to decline: with an infinitive object to refuse to go
3. 1. to decline to accept or submit to (a command, etc.); decline to undergo
   2. to decline to grant the request of (a person)
4. to stop short at (a fence, etc.), without jumping it: said of a horse
5. Obsolete to renounce

Etymology: ME refusen < OFr refuser < LL *refusare < L refusus, pp. of refundere: see refund

intransitive verb