Verb

(en verb)

(with relationship specified) To take by choice into relationship, child, heir, friend, citizen, etc.

(with relationship implied by context) To take voluntarily (a child of other parents) to be in the place of, or as, one's own child.

A friend of mine recently adopted a Chinese baby girl found on the streets of Beijing.

(with relationship implied by context) To obtain (a pet) from a shelter or the wild.

We're going to adopt a Dalmatian.

(with relationship implied by context) To take by choice into the scope of one's responsibility.

This supermarket chain adopts several families every Yuletide, providing them with money and groceries for the holidays.

To take or receive as one's own what is not so naturally.(rfex)

* '>citation

To select and take or approve.

to adopt the view or policy of another

These resolutions were adopted .

Verb

(en-verb)

To not allow.

I wanted to go to the party, but I was denied .

* 1847 , Anne Brontë, Agnes Grey Chapter XVI

'Do! pray do! I shall be the most miserable of men if you don't. You cannot be so cruel as to deny me a favour so easily granted and yet so highly prized!' pleaded he as ardently as if his life depended on it.

To assert that something is not true.

I deny that I was at the party.

Everyone knows he committed the crime, but he still denies it.

* {{quote-news

, year=2011 , date=November 1 , author=James Robinson and Lisa O'Carroll , title=Phone hacking: NoW warned about 'culture of illegal information access' , work=The Guardian citation , page= , passage=But Myler and Crone told the committee in September that they had made Murdoch aware at the 10 June 2008 meeting that hacking was not restricted to a single journalist. They claimed this was the reason Murdoch agreed to settle the Taylor's case. James Murdoch subsequently wrote to the committee to deny this. }}

To disallow

to refuse to give or grant something to someone

My father denied me a good education.

* J. Edwards

To some men, it is more agreeable to deny a vicious inclination, than to gratify it.

* {{quote-news

, year=2008 , date=April 12 , author= , title=Mother denied daughter's organs , work=BBC citation , page= , passage=A mother who urgently needs a kidney transplant has branded the system which denied her the organs of her dying daughter as "ridiculous".}}

(sports) To prevent from scoring.

* {{quote-news

, year=2011 , date=November 3 , author=Chris Bevan , title=Rubin Kazan 1 - 0 Tottenham , work=BBC Sport citation , page= , passage=Another Karadeniz cross led to Cudicini's first save of the night, with the Spurs keeper making up for a weak punch by brilliantly pushing away Christian Noboa's snap-shot.
Two more top-class stops followed quickly afterwards, first from Natcho's rasping shot which was heading into the top corner, and then to deny Ryazantsev at his near post.}}

To disclaim connection with, responsibility for, etc.; to refuse to acknowledge; to disown; to abjure; to disavow.

* Bancroft

the falsehood of denying his opinion

* Keble

thou thrice denied , yet thrice beloved

(obsolete) To refuse (to do or accept something).

* Shakespeare

if you deny to dance