To purify from what is gross, coarse, vulgar, inelegant, low, and the like; to make elegant or excellent; to polish; as, to refine the manners, the language, the style, the taste, the intellect, or the moral feelings
When a substance is refined, it is made pure by having all other substances removed from it. Oil is refined to remove naturally occurring impurities. + refining re·fin·ing oil refining
To narrow the focus of a search by including more search terms, limiters, and/or Boolean operators In AltaVista, the Refine feature offers menu choices which help you narrow the focus of your search
To alter a search in order to retrieve fewer hits The use of the Boolean operator "and" refines a search This is also known as "limiting" and "narrowing" a search
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
If something such as a process, theory, or machine is refined, it is improved by having small changes made to it. Surgical techniques are constantly being refined. = improve
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; as, to refine gold or silver; to refine iron; to refine wine or sugar
In magnesium melting practice, the removal of magnesium oxide and other suspended non-metallic matter by use of flux that preferentially wets the impurities and carries them to the bottom of the pot as sludge
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"
make more precise or increase the discriminatory powers of; "refine a method of analysis"; "refine the constant in the equation" 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" reduce to a fine, unmixed, or pure state; separate from extraneous matter or cleanse from impurities; "refine sugar" treat or prepare so as to put in a usable condition; "refine paper stock"; "refine pig iron"; "refine oil
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