Refine
[rɪ'faɪn]
Definition
(verb.) make more precise or increase the discriminatory powers of; 'refine a method of analysis'; 'refine the constant in the equation'.
(verb.) attenuate or reduce in vigor, strength, or validity by polishing or purifying; 'many valuable nutrients are refined out of the foods in our modern diet'.
(verb.) reduce to a fine, unmixed, or pure state; separate from extraneous matter or cleanse from impurities; 'refine sugar'.
(verb.) treat or prepare so as to put in a usable condition; 'refine paper stock'; 'refine pig iron'; 'refine oil'.
Typist: Osborn--From WordNet
Definition
(v. t.) 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.
(v. t.) 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.
(v. i.) To become pure; to be cleared of feculent matter.
(v. i.) To improve in accuracy, delicacy, or excellence.
(v. i.) To affect nicety or subtilty in thought or language.
Checker: Mara
Synonyms and Synonymous
v. a. [1]. Purify, clarify, fine, defecate.[2]. Cultivate, polish, make elegant.
v. n. [1]. Become pure, be clarified.[2]. Improve, make improvement.[3]. Be over-nice, affect nicety, split hairs, make useless distinctions.
Edited by Lelia
Definition
v.t. to separate from extraneous matter: to reduce to a fine or pure state: to purify: to clarify: to polish: to make elegant: to purify the manners morals language &c.—v.i. to become fine or pure: to affect nicety: to improve in any kind of excellence.—p.adj. Refined′ made fine: polished: highly cultivated.—adv. Refin′edly in a refined manner: with affected elegance.—ns. Refin′edness Refine′ment act of refining or state of being refined: purification: separation from what is impure &c.: cultivation: elegance: polish: purity: an excessive nicety; Refin′er one who refuses anything: a piece of mechanism for refining as a gas purifier; Refin′ery a place for refining; Refin′ing the act or process of refining or purifying particularly metals.
Typed by Ada
Examples
- Its tendency would be to raise and refine her mindand it must be saving her from the danger of degradation. Jane Austen. Emma.
- And all the while, research studies their results, artists express subtler perceptions, critics refine and adapt the general culture of the times. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
- Century after century their artizans could perfect their skill, and their men and women refine upon refinement. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- My dear Harriet, you must not refine too much upon this charade. Jane Austen. Emma.
- There was a brief interval, they heard a door close, then Maxim said, in his refined voice: 'That's all right. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- The pulp, duly beaten, refined, screened, and diluted with water, is then piped into the flow-box of the Fourdrinier machine. Edward W. Byrn. The Progress of Invention in the Nineteenth Century.
- Notwithstanding these foibles, and various others needless to mention--but by no means of a refined or elevating character--how pretty she was! Charlotte Bronte. Villette.
- Yorke, she rose, she grew tall, she expanded and refined almost to flame. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- I like your nice manners and refined ways of speaking, when you don't try to be elegant. Louisa May Alcott. Little Women.
- I should ask Mrs. Gradgrind's pardon for strong expressions, but that she knows very well I am not a refined character. Charles Dickens. Hard Times.
- Oh, if you are for high notions and double-refined sentiment, I've naught to say. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- The most practical methods of refining salt today are known as the Grainer, Vacuum Pan and Alberger systems. Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
- The blood is largely used for making albumen for photographic uses, as well as in sugar refining, for meat extracts, and for fertilizers. Edward W. Byrn. The Progress of Invention in the Nineteenth Century.
- I am in too sorry a state to understand what you are refining on, said the wretched man. Thomas Hardy. The Return of the Native.
- The imagination is not fed, but is held down to recapitulating, cataloguing, and refining what is already known. John Dewey. Democracy and Education.
- It is not subject to the refining and expanding influences of the more accurate and comprehensive material of direct instruction. John Dewey. Democracy and Education.
- The compounded rubber goes from the mixing mills to refining mills, to be prepared for the calenders. Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
- This batch of material goes back for another crushing, so that everything is subjected to an equality of refining. Frank Lewis Dyer. Edison, His Life and Inventions.
- The manufacturers first supply the neighbourhood, and afterwards, as their work improves and refines, more distant markets. Adam Smith. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.
- Nothing refines like affection. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- Literature refines, science deepens, various devices extend it. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
Edited by Clio