refurbish
verb
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As seems proper given how English prefixes work, before you could refurbish something you could furbish it. That shorter word was borrowed into Middle English in the 14th century from Anglo-French as furbisshen; it shares a distant relative with the Old High German verb furben, meaning "to polish." In its earliest uses furbish also meant "to polish," but it developed an extended sense of "to renovate" shortly before English speakers created refurbish with the same meaning in the 17th century. These days refurbish is the more common of the two words, although furbish does continue to be used.
Examples of refurbish in a Sentence
Molly Higgins, WIRED, 26 Oct. 2024
Wrapping a game with modern visuals and refurbishing the gameplay satisfies older fans while also introducing a new generation to the franchise.
—Gieson Cacho, The Mercury News, 23 Oct. 2024
The Houthis have refurbished tunnels that once held Scud missiles when Yemen was ruled by strongman Ali Abdullah Saleh, according to an analysis in April by the International Institute for Strategic Studies.
—Jon Gambrell, Los Angeles Times, 17 Oct. 2024
The café has been at the store space for a few years, but now it’s been refurbished with dark wood tones, warm lighting and silverware.
—Hikmat Mohammed, WWD, 17 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for refurbish 
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'refurbish.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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“Refurbish.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/refurbish. Accessed 5 Nov. 2024.
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refurbish
verb
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