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Definition of reject verb from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

reject

verb
 
/rɪˈdʒekt/
 
/rɪˈdʒekt/
Verb Forms
present simple I / you / we / they reject
 
/rɪˈdʒekt/
 
/rɪˈdʒekt/
he / she / it rejects
 
/rɪˈdʒekts/
 
/rɪˈdʒekts/
past simple rejected
 
/rɪˈdʒektɪd/
 
/rɪˈdʒektɪd/
past participle rejected
 
/rɪˈdʒektɪd/
 
/rɪˈdʒektɪd/
-ing form rejecting
 
/rɪˈdʒektɪŋ/
 
/rɪˈdʒektɪŋ/
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    argument/idea/plan

  1. reject something to refuse to accept or consider something
    • to reject an argument/a hypothesis/a notion/a plan
    • to reject a claim/an offer/a request/an application
    • The bank has the option of accepting or rejecting this offer.
    • The prime minister rejected any idea of reforming the system.
    • The proposal was firmly rejected.
    • School officials flatly rejected the proposal.
    • All our suggestions were rejected out of hand.
    • The Government rejected calls for an inquiry.
    Extra Examples
    • Don't just reject their suggestions out of hand.
    • He urged the committee to reject the plans.
    • It was a badly researched product that consumers rightly rejected.
    • She firmly rejected the suggestion that she had lied to Parliament.
    • The paper expressly rejected charges that it had invented the story.
    • The paper indignantly rejected charges that it had invented the story to boost sales.
    • The plan was rejected on economic grounds.
    • The proposal was rejected as too costly.
    • Their design was rejected in favour of one by a rival company.
    • Voters emphatically rejected the proposals.
    • Voters narrowly rejected the plan.
    Topics Businessb1
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb
    • decisively
    • emphatically
    • firmly
    verb + reject
    • vote to
    • be free to
    • have the right to
    preposition
    • as
    • in favour/​favor of
    phrases
    • reject something on… grounds
    See full entry
  2. somebody for job

  3. reject somebody to refuse to accept somebody for a job, position, etc.
    • Please reject the following candidates…
    • I've been rejected by all the universities I applied to.
    • Some applicants were rejected outright.
    • We considered offering him the job, but finally rejected him.
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb
    • decisively
    • emphatically
    • firmly
    verb + reject
    • vote to
    • be free to
    • have the right to
    preposition
    • as
    • in favour/​favor of
    phrases
    • reject something on… grounds
    See full entry
  4. not use/publish

  5. reject something to decide not to use, sell, publish, etc. something because its quality is not good enough
    • Imperfect articles are rejected by our quality control.
    • The book was at first rejected by publishers.
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb
    • decisively
    • emphatically
    • firmly
    verb + reject
    • vote to
    • be free to
    • have the right to
    preposition
    • as
    • in favour/​favor of
    phrases
    • reject something on… grounds
    See full entry
  6. new organ

  7. reject something (of the body) to not accept a new organ after a transplant operation, by producing substances that attack the organ
    • Her body has already rejected two kidneys.
    Extra Examples
    • No one knows why a foetus is not automatically rejected by the mother's immune system.
    • The organs are automatically rejected by the immune system.
    Topics Health problemsb1, Healthcareb1
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb
    • decisively
    • emphatically
    • firmly
    verb + reject
    • vote to
    • be free to
    • have the right to
    preposition
    • as
    • in favour/​favor of
    phrases
    • reject something on… grounds
    See full entry
  8. not love

  9. reject somebody/something to fail to give a person or an animal enough love or care
    • The lioness rejected the smallest cub, which died.
    • When her husband left home she felt rejected and useless.
    Extra Examples
    • He was only three when his father left and I think he still feels rejected.
    • She was rejected by her family and moved to another town.
  10. Word Originlate Middle English: from Latin reject- ‘thrown back’, from the verb reicere, from re- ‘back’ + jacere ‘to throw’.
See reject in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee reject in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic English

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