'Refining' definitions:
Definition of 'refining'
(from WordNet)
noun
The process of removing impurities (as from oil or metals or sugar etc.) [syn: refining, refinement, purification]
Definition of 'Refining'
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]