refine
Americanverb (used with object)
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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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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
- prerefine verb (used with object)
- refinable adjective
- refiner noun
- self-refining adjective
- superrefine verb (used with object)
- unrefining adjective
Etymology
Origin of refine
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.
But it is refined from feedstocks that have captured atmospheric CO2, like waste forest or agriculture biomass, instead of fossil fuels that were previously locked away underground.
Instead, she’s been stamped with a red “V” for “Vacuous” and labeled cinema’s number-one fraud, regardless of the merit, improvement and commitment to refining her vision demonstrated by her two most recent films.
From Salon
Those gaps opened the door to refining and strengthening the theory.
From Science Daily
The job of refining techniques of riding and roping — while modifying gear and apparel — largely fell to the resourceful vaqueros, from the Spanish word vaca for cow.
From Los Angeles Times
Some evidence suggests that replacing refined carbohydrates with pecans may improve insulin response or help moderate after meal blood sugar levels.
From Science Daily
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.
