Definitions for refine
rɪˈfaɪnre·fine

Princeton's WordNetRate this definition:4.5 / 2 votes

1. polish, refine, fine-tune, downverb

   improve or perfect by pruning or polishing

   "refine one's style of writing"

2. complicate, refine, rarify, elaborateverb

   make more complex, intricate, or richer

   "refine a design or pattern"

3. refineverb

   treat or prepare so as to put in a usable condition

   "refine paper stock"; "refine pig iron"; "refine oil"

4. refine, rectifyverb

   reduce to a fine, unmixed, or pure state; separate from extraneous matter or cleanse from impurities

   "refine sugar"

5. refineverb

   attenuate or reduce in vigor, strength, or validity by polishing or purifying

   "many valuable nutrients are refined out of the foods in our modern diet"

6. refineverb

   make more precise or increase the discriminatory powers of

   "refine a method of analysis"; "refine the constant in the equation"

WiktionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. refineverb

   To reduce to a fine, unmixed, or pure state; to free from impurities; to free from dross or alloy; to separate from extraneous matter; to purify; as, to refine gold or silver; to refine iron; to refine wine or sugar.

2. refineverb

   To purify from what is gross, coarse, vulgar, inelegant, low, and the like; to make elegant or excellent; to polish; as, to refine the manners, the language, the style, the taste, the intellect, or the moral feelings.

3. refineverb

   To become pure; to be cleared of feculent matter.

4. refineverb

   To improve in accuracy, delicacy, or excellence.

5. refineverb

   To affect nicety or subtlety in thought or language.

6. Etymology: From re- + fine.

Samuel Johnson's DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. To REFINEverb

   Etymology: raffiner, Fr.

   1. To purify; to clear from dross and recrement.

   I will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried. Zech. xiii. 9.

   Weigh ev’ry word, and ev’ry thought refine. Anon.

   The red Dutch currant yields a rich juice, to be diluted with a quantity of water boiled with refined sugar. John Mortimer.

   2. To make elegant; to polish; to make accurate.

   Queen Elizabeth’s time was a golden age for a world of refined wits, who honoured poesy with their pens. Henry Peacham.

   Love refines the thoughts, and hath his seat
   In reason. John Milton.

   The same traditional sloth, which renders the bodies of children, born from wealthy parents, weak, may perhaps refine their spirits. Jonathan Swift.

2. To Refineverb

   1. To improve in point of accuracy or delicacy.

   Chaucer refined on Boccace, and mended stories. Dryden.

   Let a lord but own the happy lines;
   How the wit brightens, how the sense refines! Alexander Pope.

   2. To grow pure.

   The pure limpid stream, when foul with stains,
   Works itself clear, and as it runs refines. Addison.

   3. To affect nicety.

   He makes another paragraph about our refining in controversy, and coming nearer still to the church of Rome. Francis Atterbury.

WikipediaRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. refine

   Refining (also perhaps called by the mathematical term affining) is the process of purification of a (1) substance or a (2) form. The term is usually used of a natural resource that is almost in a usable form, but which is more useful in its pure form. For instance, most types of natural petroleum will burn straight from the ground, but it will burn poorly and quickly clog an engine with residues and by-products. The term is broad, and may include more drastic transformations, such as the reduction of ore to metal (for which see Refining (metallurgy)). The refining of liquids is often accomplished by distillation or fractionation; this process is useful, for example, for isolating different fractions of petroleum. Gases can be refined in this way as well, by being cooled and/or compressed until they liquefy. Gases and liquids can also be refined by extraction with a selective solvent that dissolves away either the substance of interest, or the unwanted impurities. Many solids can be refined by growing crystals in a solution of the impure material; the regular structure of the crystal tends to favor the desired material and exclude other kinds of particles. Chemical reactions are often used to remove impurities of particular types. The use of silicon and other semiconductors in electronics depends on precise control of impurities. The zone melting process developed by William Gardner Pfann was used to produce pure germanium, and subsequently float-zone silicon became available when Henry Theuerer of Bell Labs adapted Pfann's method to silicon.

ChatGPTRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. refine

   To refine means to improve something by making small changes or to make an idea, method, or system more developed or sophisticated. It can also refer to the process of removing impurities or unwanted elements from a substance, typically as part of an industrial process.

Webster DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Refineverb

   to reduce to a fine, unmixed, or pure state; to free from impurities; to free from dross or alloy; to separate from extraneous matter; to purify; to defecate; as, to refine gold or silver; to refine iron; to refine wine or sugar

2. Refineverb

   to purify from what is gross, coarse, vulgar, inelegant, low, and the like; to make elegant or exellent; to polish; as, to refine the manners, the language, the style, the taste, the intellect, or the moral feelings

3. Refineverb

   to become pure; to be cleared of feculent matter

4. Refineverb

   to improve in accuracy, delicacy, or excellence

5. Refineverb

   to affect nicety or subtilty in thought or language

Chambers 20th Century DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Refine

   rē-fīn′, v.t. to separate from extraneous matter: to reduce to a fine or pure state: to purify: to clarify: to polish: to make elegant: to purify the manners, morals, language, &c.—v.i. to become fine or pure: to affect nicety: to improve in any kind of excellence.—p.adj. Refined′, made fine: polished: highly cultivated.—adv. Refin′edly, in a refined manner: with affected elegance.—ns. Refin′edness, Refine′ment, act of refining or state of being refined: purification: separation from what is impure, &c.: cultivation: elegance: polish: purity: an excessive nicety; Refin′er, one who refuses anything: a piece of mechanism for refining, as a gas purifier; Refin′ery, a place for refining; Refin′ing, the act or process of refining or purifying, particularly metals. [L. re-, denoting change of state, and fine; cf. Fr. raffiner.]

Editors ContributionRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. refine

   to free (something, such as metal, sugar, or oil) from impurities or unwanted material;to free from moral imperfection : ELEVATE;to make something pure or improve something, especially by removing unwanted material;to improve an idea, method, system, etc. by making small changes;To make or become clear by the removal of impurities,to make a substance pure by removing unwanted material:clarify, clean, cleanse.to improve something or to make it pure, especially by removing material that is not wanted;To bring to perfection or completion:perfect,smooth.Idiom: smooth off the rough edges.purify, process, filter, cleanse, clarify, sift, distil, rarefy,improve, temper, hone, fine-tune, cultivate; improve or perfect by pruning or polishing:fine-tune, polish, down;make more complex, intricate, or richer:rarify, complicate, refine, elaborate;reduce to a fine, unmixed, or pure state; separate from extraneous matter or cleanse from impurities;to become more fine, elegant, or polished;Attenuate or reduce in vigor,intensity, strength, or validity by polishing or purifying; To make more precise or increase the discriminatory powers of;to purify/free from what is coarse,uncouth, vulgar, or debasing; make elegant or cultured;ameliorate, amend, better, enhance, enrich, help, meliorate, perfect, upgrade.

   Armed with data, governments can continuously refine their policies.

   
   

   Submitted by anonymous on July 2, 2020  

Matched Categories

1. • Change
   • Purify
   • Treat

Anagrams for refine »

1. ferine

How to pronounce refine?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

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   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

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   Natasha

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   Priya

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   Neerja

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   Zira

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   Oliver

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   South African

How to say refine in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of refine in Chaldean Numerology is: 8

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of refine in Pythagorean Numerology is: 3

Examples of refine in a Sentence

1. Aaron Herzig:

   The defendants strongly believe that neither Cincinnati Public Schools, its employees, nor the school nurse were responsible for the tragic death of Gabriel Taye, cincinnati Public Schools embraces the goal of eliminating bullying within schools, as well as continuing to refine and improve reporting, management, and training processes related to incidents of bullying.

2. Donald Dziva of Hwedza:

   Nowadays electricity is available only from 8pm to 5am. I sleep in my mill or butchery just to catch electricity when it's switched back on. I'm forced to sell meat or refine grain at night. My losses are massive. Two of my kids may (have to) briefly stop attending college next year.

3. Patrick Ellis:

   It's just too early to put a solid strategy in place, we have still got so much to solve with the regulators in order to be able to then refine the strategy for launch.

4. Dan Erickson:

   Our goal is to have 10 to 20 of those foundational partners on board to help us continue to refine the technology and pricing.

5. Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott:

   I presume that if this wreckage does turn out to be from a Boeing 777 that the analysts will do their best ... to try to work out exactly where it came from, i don't know how accurate that will be but I dare say it will give us some more evidence and it might enable us to further refine the search area, it might.

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References

1. ^ Princeton's WordNet
   http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=refine
2. ^ Wiktionary
   https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Refine
3. ^ Samuel Johnson's Dictionary
   https://johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/views/search.php?term=refine
4. ^ Wikipedia
   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refine
5. ^ ChatGPT
   https://chat.openai.com
6. ^ Webster Dictionary
   https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/refine
7. ^ Chambers 20th Century Dictionary
   https://www.gutenberg.org/files/37683/37683-h/37683-h.htm#:~:text=refine