refine
Americanverb (used with object)
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refines,
present (3rd person singular)
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refined,
past participle, past
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refining
present participle
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to bring to a fine or a pure state; free from impurities.
to refine metal, sugar, or petroleum.
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to purify from what is coarse, vulgar, or debasing; make elegant or cultured.
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to bring to a finer state or form by purifying.
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to make more fine, subtle, or precise.
to refine one's writing style.
verb (used without object)
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refines,
present (3rd person singular)
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refined,
past participle, past
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refining
present participle
-
to become pure.
The silver is refining in the furnace.
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to become more fine, elegant, or polished.
His parents hope that his manners will refine as he gets older.
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to make fine distinctions in thought or language.
verb phrase
verb
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to make or become free from impurities, sediment, or other foreign matter; purify
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(tr) to separate (a mixture) into pure constituents, as in an oil refinery
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to make or become free from coarse characteristics; make or become elegant or polished
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to remove (something impure or extraneous)
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(intr; often foll by on or upon) to enlarge or improve (upon) by making subtle or fine distinctions
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(tr) to make (language) more subtle or polished
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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refinernoun
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prerefineverb (used with object)
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superrefineverb (used with object)
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refinableadjective
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self-refiningadjective
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unrefiningadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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refinesimple
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refinessimple
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have refinedperfect
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has refinedperfect
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am refiningprogressive
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are refiningprogressive
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is refiningprogressive
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have been refiningperfect progressive
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has been refiningperfect progressive
Past
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refinedsimple
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had refinedperfect
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was refiningprogressive
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were refiningprogressive
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had been refiningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of refine
Explanation
When you refine something, you make it better. Whether it's sugar or an essay, refining it requires fixing its flaws. You may think you created a masterpiece on the first try. But there's always room to refine. More than just working out the kinks, refining something means you're going to fine tune it, hone it to perfection, and make it more precise. In scientific terms, to refine something means to reduce it down to a pure state. At the dinner table, you can please grandma by refining your manners.
Vocabulary lists containing refine
Hatchet
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Drowned City: Hurricane Katrina & New Orleans
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Chew On This
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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:
Moving it through a pipeline and into a tanker requires treatment that would add $15 a barrel to its cost, he estimates, not counting the specialized equipment needed to refine it.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026
Diesel is harder to refine than gasoline and so while UK refineries produce more than the quantity of petrol consumed domestically, they meet less than half of the demand for diesel.
From BBC ● Oct. 2, 2026
According to Asymmetric, the agents were able to refine their techniques in a matter of days, a process that typically takes traditional hackers months or even years.
From Barron's ● Oct. 1, 2026
They use it to brainstorm ideas, find literature, improve writing, refine arguments and test competing hypotheses.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 28, 2026
“Oh no, did you go back to putting ketchup on your eggs again? I work so hard to refine your palate!”
From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold
The creative team then reviews and refines multiple AI-generated versions of a scene before deciding which expressions and line readings best serve the story.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 13, 2026
Then there’s the looming threat of “vibe coding,” a term coined by OpenAI co-founder Andrej Karpathy in 2025, in which AI generates and refines code using natural-language prompts.
From Barron's ● Jan. 5, 2026
FactSet collects and refines data from official filings, news, sell-side research and fixed-income pricing, creating a high barrier for entry for new AI entrants.
From MarketWatch ● Dec. 13, 2025
China mines about 70%, and refines 90%, of the world’s rare earths.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 22, 2025
A race builds itself for a million years, refines itself, erects cities like those out there, does everything it can to give itself respect and beauty, and then it dies.
From "The Martian Chronicles" by Ray Bradbury
No dichotomy better represents Berlant’s razor-sharp, thoroughly tasteful wit, which sits halfway between refined humorist and go-for-broke court jester.
From Salon ● Oct. 16, 2026
Prices of refined petroleum products remain between 70 and 95 percent above pre-war levels, putting pressure on countries dependent on energy imports for economic activity.
From Barron's ● Oct. 13, 2026
Adnoc L&S supports offshore drilling projects and operates more than 100 ships used to transport crude oil, liquefied natural gas and refined products globally.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 12, 2026
However, refined product flows remain largely constrained, with diesel supply balances very tight, said McNally.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 12, 2026
“Obviously, Ayesha has refined cultural taste, and I totally approve of this friendship,” my dad says, and chuckles a bit.
From "Internment" by Samira Ahmed
The French energy major said it expects exceptional results from its downstream business after an increase in third-quarter refining margins.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026
The largest revision was in the refining and chemicals unit, with an $1.5 billion increase to reflect the capture of higher margins and robust oil trading, she says.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026
TotalEnergies expects to report exceptional third-quarter results from its downstream business after refining margins jumped.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026
European diesel refining margins fell from around $100 a barrel to close to $60 by early October, according to the IEA.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2026
In fact, however, for the next five years nothing happened, largely because MacKaye occupied himself with refining and expanding his vision until he and it were only tangentially connected to the real world.
From "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
