reject

UK: verb: /rɪˈdʒɛkt/, noun: /ˈriːdʒɛkt/

US: /v. rɪˈdʒɛkt; n. ˈridʒɛkt/

US: (v. ri jekt′; n. rē′jekt)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

re•ject /v. rɪˈdʒɛkt; n. ˈridʒɛkt/   v. [~ + object]

1. to refuse to have, take, use, recognize, etc.:
   to reject a job offer.
2. to refuse to grant (a request, demand, etc.);
   deny:
   The board rejected his request for a license.
3. to refuse to accept or admit:
   The other children rejected him.
4. to throw aside as useless or unsatisfactory:
   Any misshapen pieces coming off the assembly line are rejected.
5. Medicine to have a reaction against (a transplanted organ or tissue).

n. [countable]

6. one that is rejected.

See -jec-.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

re•ject  (v. ri jekt′;n. rē′jekt), v.t. 

1. to refuse to have, take, recognize, etc.:
   to reject the offer of a better job.
2. to refuse to grant (a request, demand, etc.).
3. to refuse to accept (someone or something);
   rebuff:
   The other children rejected him. The publisher rejected the author's latest novel.
4. to discard as useless or unsatisfactory:
   The mind rejects painful memories.
5. to cast out or eject;
   vomit.
6. to cast out or off.
7. Medicine (of a human or other animal) to have an immunological reaction against (a transplanted organ or grafted tissue):
   If tissue types are not matched properly, a patient undergoing a transplant will reject the graft.

n. 

8. something rejected, as an imperfect article.

• Latin rējectus, past participle of rējicere to throw back, equivalent. to re- re- + jec-, combining form of jacere to throw + -tus past participle suffix
• (verb, verbal) 1485–95

re•ject′a•ble, adj. 
re•ject′er, n. 
re•jec′tive, adj. 
Synonyms

• 1. See refuse ¹.
• 1, 2. deny.
• 3. repel, renounce.
• 4. eliminate, jettison.
• 8. second.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

reject verb / rɪˈdʒɛkt/(transitive)

1. to refuse to accept, acknowledge, use, believe, etc
2. to throw out as useless or worthless; discard
3. to rebuff (a person)
4. (of an organism) to fail to accept (a foreign tissue graft or organ transplant) because of immunological incompatibility

noun / ˈriːdʒɛkt/

1. someone or something rejected as imperfect, unsatisfactory, or useless

Etymology: 15th Century: from Latin rēicere to throw back, from re- + jacere to hurl

reˈjecter, reˈjector noun

reˈjection noun

reˈjective adjective