Etymology From Late Middle English rejecten, from Latin reiectus, past participle of reicere (“to throw back”), from re- (“back”) + iacere (“to throw”). Displaced native Old English āweorpan (literally “to throw out”).
1
To refuse to accept; to forswear.
She even rejected my improved offer.
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.1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter IV, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:
It's unexpected / It usually is / When you're rejected / Or you take a hit2011, Lenka, Ben H. Allen, “Roll with the Punches”, in Two, performed by Lenka:
Etymology From Late Middle English rejecten, from Latin reiectus, past participle of reicere (“to throw back”), from re- (“back”) + iacere (“to throw”). Displaced native Old English āweorpan (literally “to throw out”).
1
Something that is rejected.
Almost all line segments will be trivial accepts or trivial rejects, so the above covers the vast majority of cases.1996, Jim Blinn, Jim Blinn's Corner: A Trip Down the Graphics Pipeline, page 127:
Colloquial A rejected defective product in a production line.
In all of India, China, Africa, and much of the southern American continent, those who had the leisure and wallet for fashion […] would have killed for the street merchandise of Manhattan, as also for […] the reject china and designer-label bargains to be found in downtown discount emporia.2001, Salman Rushdie, Fury: A Novel, London: Jonathan Cape, →ISBN, page 6: