reject Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun the person or thing that is rejected or set aside as inferior in quality
    cull.
  2. verb refuse to accept or acknowledge
    • I reject the idea of starting a war
    • The journal rejected the student's paper
  3. verb refuse to accept
    decline; refuse; pass up; turn down.
    • He refused my offer of hospitality
  4. verb deem wrong or inappropriate
    disapprove.
    • I disapprove of her child rearing methods
  5. verb reject with contempt
    freeze off; spurn; disdain; scorn; pooh-pooh; turn down.
    • She spurned his advances
  6. verb resist immunologically the introduction of some foreign tissue or organ
    resist; refuse.
    • His body rejected the liver of the donor
  7. verb refuse entrance or membership
    refuse; turn away; turn down.
    • They turned away hundreds of fans
    • Black people were often rejected by country clubs
  8. verb dismiss from consideration or a contest
    winnow out; eliminate; rule out.
    • John was ruled out as a possible suspect because he had a strong alibi
    • This possibility can be eliminated from our consideration

WordNet


Re*ject" transitive verb
Etymology
L. rejectus, p. p. of reicere, rejicere; pref. re- re- + jacere to throw: cf. F. rejeter, formerly also spelt rejecter. See Jet a shooting forth.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Rejected; present participle & verbal noun Rejecting
Definitions
  1. To cast from one; to throw away; to discard.
    Therefore all this exercise of hunting . . . the Utopians have rejected to their butchers. Robynson (More's Utopia).
    Reject me not from among thy children. Wisdom ix. 4.
  2. To refuse to receive or to acknowledge; to decline haughtily or harshly; to repudiate.
    That golden scepter which thou didst reject. Milton.
    Because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me. Hog. iv. 6.
  3. To refuse to grant; as, to reject a prayer or request. Syn. -- To repel; renounce; discard; rebuff; refuse; decline.

Webster 1913