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
Allen Farmelo, Robb Report, 20 Nov. 2024
The conservancy aims to transform 5.5-miles of Detroit riverfront and has already refurbished and opened key portions in recent years.
—Darcie Moran, Detroit Free Press, 13 Nov. 2024
The images were found when the computer was being refurbished.
—Dan Horn, The Enquirer, 15 Oct. 2024
The next largest grant ($90 million) was awarded to refurbish former mine land in Clearfield County, Penn.
—Noël Fletcher, Forbes, 22 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 30 Nov. 2024.
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refurbish
verb
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