refugees

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of refugee.

   Aid workers registered the newly arrived refugees at the reception center.

   Many refugees waited years before they could safely return home.

   Note

   A regular plural that carries both meanings of the singular. Usually it names people who have fled persecution, war or disaster, often across a border. More broadly, and with a derogatory edge, it can mean runaways fleeing justice. Context decides which, and in careful writing the shelter-seeking meaning is the safe default. Before another noun the singular stays: refugee camps, not refugees camps.

2. 2
   verbUS

   Third-person singular simple present of refugee. The verb is rare.

   Note

   Behind this form stands a historical American verb: to refugee slaves was to move them away from the advance of federal forces. It is transitive and belongs to accounts of that period, not to everyday modern speech. Most readers will take refugees as the plural noun, so a sentence using the verb needs context that makes its grammar plain.

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