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# refuse

«refuse» in Mova's school dictionary: **to say no, or to not do something you are asked to do** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

verb (refuse, refuses, refused, refusing — stress on «fuse»); noun (refuse — stress on «ref», means rubbish)

### meaning for a pupil

1) To refuse means to say no, or to not do something you are asked to do. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/refuse/#m1)

2) To refuse something means to not accept it: she refused the offer. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/refuse/#m2)

3) As a noun (said REF-yoos), refuse means rubbish or waste. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/refuse/#m3)

### sense in the lessons

In safety lessons refusing is a strong skill: you can refuse to go with a stranger, refuse to keep an unsafe secret, and refuse to join in bullying. In stories a character who refuses shows they are stubborn, brave or angry. In everyday life a «refuse collection» is the rubbish collection (UK). Phrases: refuse to, refuse an offer, flatly refuse.

### examples

- He refused to share his toys. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/refuse/#x1)
- It's okay to refuse if someone asks you to do something unsafe. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/refuse/#x2)
- The dog refused to eat its dinner. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/refuse/#x3)
- She refused the sweets because she had an allergy. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/refuse/#x4)
- The donkey refused to move. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/refuse/#x5)
- The refuse lorry takes away the rubbish on Mondays. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/refuse/#x6)
- I asked him to stop, but he refused. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/refuse/#x7)
- You can refuse a hug if you don't want one. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/refuse/#x8)
- At first I refused to go. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/refuse/#x9)

### note

Two words spelled the same: re-FUSE (verb, say no) and REF-use (noun, rubbish). Use «refuse to» + verb: «refused to go». The noun for the act of saying no is «refusal». Politely refusing: «No, thank you».

### In the corpora

- [Refusing to admit you are lost or wrong is pride; too much pride makes it hard to ask for help or say sorry.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/36-big-feelings-in-big-people/18/)
- [Some are advice for parents; some are the law, and a cinema can refuse to let you in.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/57-age-ratings-and-why-they-exist/9/)
- [Companies set safety rules for what their bots should not do, so a bot may politely refuse a request.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/ai/6-why-the-bot-agrees-too-easily/10/)
- [Bots can be tricked into saying hurtful things, so you notice tricks, politely refuse and stay kind.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/ai/28-who-you-are-honest-ai/20/)
- [A message pretending to be a bank is a scam that can make real people lose money, so you refuse to write one.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/ai/29-who-you-are-being-wrong-and-learning/15/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «refuse» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/refuse/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.