rejection
Pluralrejections
- 1The act of refusing to accept, use, or agree to something that is offered.
The committee's rejection of the proposal ended months of negotiation.
His repeated rejections of help left his friends feeling shut out.
Similarrefusal, dismissal, veto, rebuff
Oppositeacceptance, approval
Note
A Latin borrowing, through French réjection or straight from reiectiō, that pushed out a native Old English word: āworpennes, literally "thrown-out-ness". The image survives in the meaning, since to reject is to throw something back. It works both ways in grammar: uncountable for the general response ("met with rejection"), countable for single instances ("three rejections in a week").
- 2The condition of being turned away, refused, or not accepted by other people.
Years of rejection made him cautious about ever sharing his writing.
The young actor learned to treat rejection as an ordinary part of the work.
Similarexclusion, rebuff, refusal
Oppositeacceptance
- 3An immune response in which the body attacks transplanted tissue or an organ as foreign.
Like security guards treating a newly arrived colleague as an intruder.
The transplant team watched closely for signs of rejection in the first weeks.
Immunosuppressant drugs lower the risk of organ rejection.
Note
Medicine applies the everyday act of refusing to the body itself: the immune system treats a graft the way a person treats an unwanted offer. It is usually uncountable and often follows the organ's name, as in "organ rejection" or "kidney rejection". Clinicians watch for "signs of rejection" because it remains a leading cause of graft failure.
- 4In basketball, a defensive play in which a player blocks an opponent's shot before it reaches the basket.
The crowd roared after his thunderous rejection at the buzzer.
Defenders earn a spot on the highlight reel with a well-timed rejection.
Similarblock
Note
Sports talk borrows the everyday word for refusing something and pins it to a single play. The shot is not just stopped; it is turned away, as an offer would be. "Block" is the plain term, and "rejection" is the more emphatic one, often chosen for a dramatic stop. Like "block", it is counted play by play: a defender piles up rejections over a game.
Practice
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Origin
From French réjection or directly from Latin reiectiōnem, the accusative form of reiectiō. It displaced the native Old English word āworpennes, literally 'thrown-out-ness'.