refurbish
verb
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
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 
Dictionary Entries Near refurbish
Cite this Entry
“Refurbish.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/refurbish. Accessed 23 Nov. 2024.
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refurbish
verb
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