Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Refusal

Refusal (-al) , noun

1.
The act of refusing; denial of anything demanded, solicited, or offered for acceptance.
Do they not seek occasion of new quarrels, On my refusal, to distress me more? — Milton
2.
The right of taking in preference to others; the choice of taking or refusing; option; as, to give one the refusal of a farm; to have the refusal of an employment.