[1] : The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

refine \refine"\, v. i.
   1. to become pure; to be cleared of feculent matter.
      1913 webster

            so the pure, limpid stream, when foul with stains,
            works itself clear, and, as it runs, refines.
                                                  --addison.
      1913 webster

   2. to improve in accuracy, delicacy, or excellence.
      1913 webster

            chaucer refined on boccace, and mended his stories.
                                                  --dryden.
      1913 webster

            but let a lord once own the happy lines,
            how the wit brightens how the style refines
                                                  --pope.
      1913 webster

   3. to affect nicety or subtilty in thought or language. "he
      makes another paragraph about our refining in
      controversy." --atterbury.
      1913 webster

[2] : The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

refine \refine"\ 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.
      1913 webster

            i will bring the third part through the fire, and
            will refine them as silver is refined. --zech. xiii.
                                                  9.
      1913 webster

   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.
      1913 webster

            love refines
            the thoughts, and heart enlarges.     --milton.
      1913 webster

   syn: to purify; clarify; polish; ennoble.
        1913 webster
see also:
refined refining 

[3] : WordNet (r) 2.0

refine
     v 1: improve or perfect by pruning or polishing; "refine one's
          style of writing" syn: polish, fine-tune, down
     2: make more complex, intricate, or richer; "refine a design or
        pattern" syn: complicate, rarify, elaborate
     3: treat or prepare so as to put in a usable condition; "refine
        paper stock"; "refine pig iron"; "refine oil"
     4: reduce to a fine, unmixed, or pure state; separate from
        extraneous matter or cleanse from impurities; "refine
        sugar" syn: rectify
     5: 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"
     6: make more precise or increase the discriminatory powers of;
        "refine a method of analysis"; "refine the constant in the
        equation"
see also:
polish fine-tune down complicate rarify elaborate 
rectify 

[4] : Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0

164 moby thesaurus words for "refine":
   abate, abrade, abstract, acculturate, advance, ameliorate, amend,
   bate, beautify, better, bolt, boost, bring forward, carve, chisel,
   civilize, clarify, cleanse, clear, colliquate, concentrate,
   convert, cultivate, curtail, decoct, decontaminate, decrassify,
   decrease, deduct, defrost, depreciate, depurate, derogate, detract,
   develop, diminish, disparage, distill, drain, eat away, edify,
   educate, edulcorate, elaborate, elevate, elute, embellish, emend,
   enhance, enlighten, enrich, erode, essentialize, evolve, excite,
   express, extract, fatten, favor, file away, filter, filtrate,
   finish, flux, focus, forward, foster, fuse, go straight, grow,
   harvest, hone, impair, improve, improve upon, infuse, lard, leach,
   lessen, lift, lixiviate, machine, make an improvement,
   make sensitive, mature, meliorate, melt, melt down, mend, mill,
   mine, narrow, nurture, oversimplify, percolate, perfect, polish,
   press out, process, promote, pump, purify, quicken, raise, rear,
   rectify, reduce, reduce to elements, refine upon, reform, remove,
   render, retrench, ripen, round, rub away, run, screen, season,
   sensibilize, sensitize, separate, sharpen, shorten, sieve, sift,
   simplify, sleek, slick, smelt, smooth, soak, socialize,
   spiritualize, steep, stimulate, stir, straighten out, strain,
   streamline, strip down, subduct, sublimate, sublime, subtilize,
   subtract, take away, take from, thaw, thin, thin out, transfigure,
   transform, try, unfreeze, upgrade, uplift, wear away, weed, whet,
   winnow, withdraw, wring, wring out

[5] : The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03)

refine
     
        1. "research on knowledge-based software environments at
        kestrel institute", d.r. smith et al, ieee trans soft eng,
        se-1111 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: .
     
     

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