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
David Szondy, New Atlas, 4 Jan. 2025
Its flagship, the eponymous three-mast sailing yacht, is now the smallest in the 13-ship fleet and was fully refurbished in 2022.
—Ryan McCarthy, Saveur, 2 Jan. 2025
The resort has been renovated and refurbished over the years, including a major project after the 2006 earthquake.
—Patricia Doherty, Travel + Leisure, 31 Dec. 2024
The club museum will move permanently to the city centre in 2026-27, and Dick’s Bar will move to the north concourse which will be refurbished in the summer of 2025.
—Andy Naylor, The Athletic, 24 Dec. 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 18 Jan. 2025.
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refurbish
verb
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