refinery
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of refinery
Explanation
A refinery is a facility where raw materials are converted into some valuable substance by having impurities removed. At an oil refinery, crude oil is treated and made into gasoline and other petroleum products. Whenever a material needs to have unwanted parts removed in order to be made into a useable product, it must be refined — clarified or processed. This is done at a plant called a refinery. A sugar refinery, for example, converts sugar cane or beets into familiar white, refined crystals of sugar. Refinery comes from refine, which is rooted in the now-obsolete verb fine, "make fine."
Vocabulary lists containing refinery
Refugee
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
The Cay
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
The Omnivore's Dilemma
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Even after that length of time, China would still have close to 1.1 billion barrels of crude remaining in storage—a mixture of refinery and commercial stocks and the country’s strategic petroleum reserve.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026
It notes the hydroxide refinery isn’t yet proven.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026
The private placement is a precursor to the initial public offer where investment in the refinery would be open to the public later in the year, analysts said.
From Barron's ● Jul. 23, 2026
Dangote plans to more than double the refining capacity of its Nigerian operations from 650,000 bpd to 1.4 million bpd -- making it the largest refinery globally, surpassing India's Jamnagar Refinery.
From Barron's ● Jul. 23, 2026
A friend helps Lourdes get work cleaning oil refinery offices and houses by day and ringing up gasoline and cigarette sales at a gas station at night.
From "Enrique's Journey" by Sonia Nazario
In dozens of strikes since this spring, Ukraine has pounded oil refineries across its larger neighbor, knocking more than one-quarter of Russian refining capacity offline.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
"We have no problem with stocks to supply our refineries," he said.
From Barron's ● Jul. 23, 2026
Meanwhile, Ukrainian efforts to cripple Russia’s war effort have disrupted crude oil shipments in the Black Sea and fuel production at Russian refineries.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026
The largest U.S. refineries were built long ago to best run heavy and sour crude: the thick, higher-sulfur oil from Canada, Venezuela, Mexico and the Persian Gulf.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 21, 2026
The damage is light, mostly confined to the U-boat pens and refineries, but two errant bombs land in St. Pauli, a neighborhood known for its theaters and cafés and concert halls.
From "The Boy Who Dared" by Susan Campbell Bartoletti
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
