reject

Definitions

re- (back) + ject (throw) = 'throw back.' To reject is to throw something back at the sender — a proposal, a manuscript, a transplanted organ. The noun (RE-ject) refers to what's been thrown back: a factory reject, a social reject.

Why It Means This

The physical image of throwing something back is preserved in every use. A publisher rejects a manuscript — throws it back to the author. The body rejects an organ — throws out the foreign tissue. The noun carries a blunt finality: a 'reject' is something deemed not good enough, tossed back into the pile.

Common Collocations

• 1.reject an offer拒绝提议
• 2.reject an application拒绝申请
• 3.flatly reject断然拒绝
• 4.reject the idea否定想法
• 5.organ rejection器官排斥

Example Sentences

• 1.

  The committee rejected the proposal due to lack of funding.

• 2.

  Her body rejected the transplanted kidney.

• 3.

  He felt like a social reject after being excluded from the group.

• 4.

  The factory inspector sorted out the rejects from the production line.

Easily Confused

reject vs refuse — Reject implies judgment: you evaluated something and found it lacking. Refuse implies will: you simply won't do it. You reject a theory (it doesn't hold up), you refuse a request (you choose not to comply). Reject often has a passive victim; refuse puts the power in the refuser's hands.

Synonym Comparison