Adjacent Words

Refining definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

REFI'NING, ppr. Purifying; separating from alloy or any extraneous matter; polishing; improving in accuracy, delicacy or purity.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: the process of removing impurities (as from oil or metals or sugar etc.) [syn: refining, refinement, purification]

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Refine Re*fine" (r?*f?n"), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Refined (-find"); p. pr. & vb. n. Refining.] [Pref. re- + fine to make fine: cf. F. raffiner.] 1. 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. I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined. --Zech. xiii. 9. 2. 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. Love refines The thoughts, and heart enlarges. --Milton. Syn: To purify; clarify; polish; ennoble.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

see refine