'Refine' definitions:
Definition of 'refine'
From: WordNet
verb
Improve or perfect by pruning or polishing; "refine one's style of writing" [syn: polish, refine, fine-tune, down]
verb
Make more complex, intricate, or richer; "refine a design or pattern" [syn: complicate, refine, rarify, elaborate]
verb
Treat or prepare so as to put in a usable condition; "refine paper stock"; "refine pig iron"; "refine oil"
verb
Reduce to a fine, unmixed, or pure state; separate from extraneous matter or cleanse from impurities; "refine sugar" [syn: refine, rectify]
verb
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"
verb
Make more precise or increase the discriminatory powers of; "refine a method of analysis"; "refine the constant in the equation"
Definition of 'Refine'
From: GCIDE
- Refine \Re*fine"\, v. i.
- 1. To become pure; to be cleared of feculent matter. [1913 Webster]
- So the pure, limpid stream, when foul with stains, Works itself clear, and, as it runs, refines. --Addison. [1913 Webster]
- 2. To improve in accuracy, delicacy, or excellence. [1913 Webster]
- Chaucer refined on Boccace, and mended his stories. --Dryden. [1913 Webster]
- But let a lord once own the happy lines, How the wit brightens! How the style refines! --Pope. [1913 Webster]
- 3. To affect nicety or subtilty in thought or language. "He makes another paragraph about our refining in controversy." --Atterbury. [1913 Webster]
Definition of 'Refine'
From: GCIDE
- Refine \Re*fine"\ (r?*f?n"), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Refined (-find"); p. pr. & vb. n. Refining.] [Pref. re- + fine to make fine: cf. F. raffiner.]
- 1. 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. [1913 Webster]
- I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined. --Zech. xiii. 9. [1913 Webster]
- 2. 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. [1913 Webster]
- Love refines The thoughts, and heart enlarges. --Milton. [1913 Webster]
- Syn: To purify; clarify; polish; ennoble. [1913 Webster]
Synonyms of 'refine'
From: Moby Thesaurus
- abate,
- abrade,
- abstract,
- acculturate,
- advance,
- ameliorate,
- amend,
- bate,
- beautify,
- better,
- bolt,
- boost,
- bring forward,
- carve,
- chisel,
- civilize,
- clarify,
- cleanse,
- clear,
- colliquate,
- concentrate,
- convert,
- cultivate,
- curtail,
- decoct,
- decontaminate,
- decrassify,
- decrease,
- deduct,
- defrost,
- depreciate,
- depurate,
- derogate,
- detract,
- develop,
- diminish,
- disparage,
- distill,
- drain,
- eat away,
- edify,
- educate,
- edulcorate,
- elaborate,
- elevate,
- elute,
- embellish,
- emend,
- enhance,
- enlighten,
- enrich,
- erode,
- essentialize,
- evolve,
- excite,
- express,
- extract,
- fatten,
- favor,
- file away,
- filter,
- filtrate,
- finish,
- flux,
- focus,
- forward,
- foster,
- fuse,
- go straight,
- grow,
- harvest,
- hone,
- impair,
- improve,
- improve upon,
- infuse,
- lard,
- leach,
- lessen,
- lift,
- lixiviate,
- machine,
- make an improvement,
- make sensitive,
- mature,
- meliorate,
- melt,
- melt down,
- mend,
- mill,
- mine,
- narrow,
- nurture,
- oversimplify,
- percolate,
- perfect,
- polish,
- press out,
- process,
- promote,
- pump,
- purify,
- quicken,
- raise,
- rear,
- rectify,
- reduce,
- reduce to elements,
- refine upon,
- reform,
- remove,
- render,
- retrench,
- ripen,
- round,
- rub away,
- run,
- screen,
- season,
- sensibilize,
- sensitize,
- separate,
- sharpen,
- shorten,
- sieve,
- sift,
- simplify,
- sleek,
- slick,
- smelt,
- smooth,
- soak,
- socialize,
- spiritualize,
- steep,
- stimulate,
- stir,
- straighten out,
- strain,
- streamline,
- strip down,
- subduct,
- sublimate,
- sublime,
- subtilize,
- subtract,
- take away,
- take from,
- thaw,
- thin,
- thin out,
- transfigure,
- transform,
- try,
- unfreeze,
- upgrade,
- uplift,
- wear away,
- weed,
- whet,
- winnow,
- withdraw,
- wring,
- wring out