From ends of road have taken away refuse (4)
I believe the answer is:
deny
'refuse' is the definition.
(I know that refuse can be written as deny)
'from ends of road have taken away' is the wordplay.
'from ends of' indicates one should take the final letters.
The final letters of 'road have taken away' are 'DENY'.
(Other definitions for deny that I've seen before include "Refuse to give" , "Reject as true" , "Declare not to be true" , "Repudiate, disavow" , "Forbid; contradict" .)