refurbish

verb

re·fur·bish ri-ˈfər-bish

refurbished; refurbishing; refurbishes

Synonyms of refurbish next

transitive verb

: to brighten or freshen up : renovate

refurbisher noun

refurbishment

ri-ˈfər-bish-mənt

noun

Did you know?

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

Recent Examples on the Web

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The next largest grant ($90 million) was awarded to refurbish former mine land in Clearfield County, Penn. —

Noël Fletcher, Forbes, 22 Oct. 2024 The donation was used to refurbish The Sanctuary, a non-denominational space for reflection and contemplation for families and caregivers at the hospice. —

Simon Perry, People.com, 17 Oct. 2024 But the primary goal of Sunday's flight was to demonstrate the ability to capture returning Super Heavy boosters on the launch pad where they can be quickly refurbished, refueled and relaunched. —

William Harwood, CBS News, 13 Oct. 2024 Newegg has deals on gently used, refurbished, new and hard-to-find electronics, gaming products and more. —

Molly Higgins, WIRED, 26 Oct. 2024 See all Example Sentences for refurbish