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Reject vs Defer - What's the difference?

reject | defer |

In transitive terms the difference between reject and defer

is that reject is to refuse to accept while defer is to delay or postpone; especially to postpone induction into military service.

As a noun reject

is something that is rejected.

reject

English

(wikipedia reject)

Verb

(en verb)
  • To refuse to accept.
  • *
  • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=4 , passage=One morning I had been driven to the precarious refuge afforded by the steps of the inn, after rejecting offers from the Celebrity to join him in a variety of amusements. But even here I was not free from interruption, for he was seated on a horse-block below me, playing with a fox terrier.}}
  • (basketball) To block a shot, especially if it sends the ball off the court.
  • Synonyms

    * (refuse to accept) decline, refuse, turn down, repudiate, disown, abnegate, abjure, deny

    Antonyms

    * (refuse to accept) accept, take up

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • Something that is rejected.
  • An unpopular person.
  • Synonyms

    * (something that is rejected) castaway * (an unpopular person) outcast, castaway, alien

    defer

    English

    Etymology 1

    * From (etyl) differer, from (etyl) .

    Verb

    (deferr)
  • To delay or postpone; especially to postpone induction into military service.
  • * Shakespeare
  • Defer the spoil of the city until night.
  • * {{quote-book
  • , year=1818 , author=Mary Shelley , title=Frankenstein , chapter=3 citation , passage=My departure for Ingolstadt, which had been deferred by these events, was now again determined upon.}}
  • to delay, to wait
  • * Milton
  • God will not long defer / To vindicate the glory of his name.
  • (American football) to choose to kick off after winning the opening coin toss.
  • Derived terms
    * deferral

    Etymology 2

    * From (etyl)

    Verb

    (deferr)
  • (legal) To submit to the opinion or desire of another in respect to their judgment or authority.
  • * Francis Bacon
  • Hereupon the commissioners deferred the matter to the Earl of Northumberland.
  • * 1899 ,
  • "Well, I must defer to your judgment. You are captain," he said with marked civility.
  • to render, to offer
  • * Brevint
  • worship deferred to the Virgin
    Derived terms
    * deference

    Anagrams

    * * ----