refine

Use Refine in a sentence

verb (used with object)

to bring to a fine or a pure state; free from impurities: to refine metal, sugar, or petroleum.

to purify from what is coarse, vulgar, or debasing; make elegant or cultured.

to bring to a finer state or form by purifying.

to make more fine, subtle, or precise: to refine one's writing style.

verb (used without object)

to become pure.

to become more fine, elegant, or polished.

to make fine distinctions in thought or language.

Relevant Questions

How Is Silver Purified?

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When To Refinance?

00:10

Refine is a GRE word you need to know.

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Resisting control.

an object of scorn or contempt.

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Verb phrases

refine onupon, to improve by inserting finer distinctions, superior elements, etc.: to refine on one's previous work.

Origin:
1575–85; re- + fine¹

Related forms

re·fin·a·ble, adjective

re·fin·er, noun

pre·re·fine, verb (used with object), pre·re·fined, pre·re·fin·ing.

self-re·fin·ing, adjective

su·per·re·fine, verb (used with object), su·per·re·fined, su·per·re·fin·ing.

un·re·fin·ing, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Collins

World English Dictionary

refine (rɪˈfaɪn)

—vb (often foll by out)
1.	to make or become free from impurities, sediment, or other foreign matter; purify
2.	(tr) to separate (a mixture) into pure constituents, as in an oil refinery
3.	to make or become free from coarse characteristics; make or become elegant or polished
4.	to remove (something impure or extraneous)
5.	(intr; often foll by on or upon) to enlarge or improve (upon) by making subtle or fine distinctions
6.	(tr) to make (language) more subtle or polished

[C16: from re- + fine¹]

re'finable

—*adj*

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

refine

1582, of metals, 1588 of manners, from re-, intensive prefix + obs. fine (v.) "make fine," from fine (adj.) "delicate" (q.v.). Cf. Fr. raffiner, It. raffinare, Sp. refinar. General and fig. sense is recorded from 1596; of sugar, from 1613. Refinery in various senses is first

recorded 1727. Refinement "act or process of refining" is from 1611; meaning "fineness of feeling" is from 1708.

American Heritage

Medical Dictionary

refine re·fine (rĭ-fīn')
v. re·fined, re·fin·ing, re·fines
To reduce to a pure state; purify.

FOLDOC

Computing Dictionary

REFINE definition

1. "Research on Knowledge-Based Software Environments at Kestrel Institute", D.R. Smith et al, IEEE Trans Soft Eng, SE-11(11) (1985). E-mail: .
2. Cordell Green et al, Stanford U. Uses logic to specify and evolve programs. [same as 1?] Reasoning Systems, Inc. E-mail: .

Example sentences

The process took centuries to refine and would take pages to explain.

Such a game would not only refine the software used to encode the messages.

But they do not drill, explore or refine the oil and process gas.

But refine the alkaloids in coca, and you get cocaine.

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Matching Quote

"The preacher then went on to criticise the attitude of religion towards science. "If there is still a feeling of hostility between them ... it is no longer the fault of religion. There have been times when the church seemed afraid, but she is so no longer. Analyze, dissect, use your microscope or your spectrum till the last atom of matter is reached; reflect and refine till the last element of thought is made clear; the church now knows with the certainty of science what she once knew only by the certainty of faith, that you will find enthroned behind all thought and matter only one central idea,—that idea which the church has never ceased to embody,—I AM!""

-Henry Brooks Adams