Refine

Definition: Refine

Refine

Verb

1. Improve or perfect by pruning or polishing; "refine one's style of writing".

2. Make more complex, intricate, or richer; "refine a design or pattern".

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".

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".

Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
 

Date "refine" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1550. (references)

Computing

Mining

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Synonyms: Refine

Cleanness

Wash, lave, launder, buck; absterge, deterge; decrassify; clear, purify; depurate, despumate, defecate; purge, expurgate, elutriate, lixiviate, edulcorate, clarify, refine, rack; filter, filtrate; drain, strain.

Improvement

Improve upon, refine upon; rectify; enrich, mellow, elaborate, fatten.

Reasoning,

Pervert, quibble; equivocate, mystify, evade, elude; gloss over, varnish; misteach; mislead; (error); cavil, refine, subtilize, split hairs; misrepresent; (lie).

Crosswords: Refine

Books

• Aviation Safety: Opportunities Exist for FAA to Refine the Controller Staffing Process (reference)

• Thy Gold to Refine (Work and the Glory, Volume 4) (reference)

• Visual Golf: Using Visualization to Better Your Swing, Refine Your Strategy, and Lower Your Score (reference)

• Work and the Glory Vol. 4: Thy Gold to Refine (reference)

  (more book examples)

Music

• Refine (reference)

• Refine Me (reference)

  (more classical music examples; more popular music examples)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Steel manufacture, Allegheny-Ludlum. This quality steel tubing and piping will eventually be used to convey, refine or distill elements used in defense production. Expensive alloy steels are used, particularly for chemical piping. Special alloys have been. Credit: Library of Congress.

Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

In the matter of civilisation, we must not refine, but we must sublime

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Health

Go to the bottom of the search page where "You may refine your search by." (references)

Better materials and enhanced technology can refine these devices to provide much better function. (references)

To find associations, use the drop boxes at the bottom of the search page where "You may refine your search by." (references)

Business

To work towards this goal, the vast majority of foreign HCPs opt first to set up a pilot project in a large coastal city where foreign and wealthy Chinese populations are the highest, then gauge the market, refine their focus, develop guanxi with government officials and regulatory agencies, and finally develop a strategy for expansion and inland penetration. (references)

Civil Liberties

Belarus

The European Humanities University, one of the country's leading independent universities, reportedly has asked students to refine or rethink dissertation topics if that topic is likely to be embarrassing to the regime. (references)

Economic History

Estonia

Estonia has no domestic capacity to refine crude oil, and thus depends heavily on exports from Western Europe and Russia. (references)

Bahrain

BAPCO operates Bahrain's--and the Gulf's--oldest refinery, set up in 1936, which has the capacity to refine up to about 260,000 b/d of crude oil. (references)

Trade

Panama

Decree No. 29 allows any foreign or national company to establish operations in a PEZ to produce, refine and export petroleum products. (references)

Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits.

Expressions using "refine": refine on ♦ refine upon. Additional references.

Ending with "refine": C-Refine, over-refine.

Albanian

rafinoj (polish, rarefy, rectify), stërholloj (ratiocinate, sophisticate), pastroj (abrade, char, clarify, clean, cleanse, clear up, defecate, depurate, deterge, eliminate, grub, gut, lustrate, pick, purge, rarefy, rectify, scavenge, scour, scrub, sweep, try), përpunoj (cast, design, develop, elaborate, evolve, mill, process, recondition, rehash, treat, work out), përmirësoj (ameliorate, amend, better, cultivate, elevate, enrich, grade, improve, meliorate, mend, polish, reclaim, reform, strengthen, upgrade), gdhend (adz, adze, carve, chase, chisel, die, enchase, engrave, gouge, incise, inscribe, intaglio, Nick, polish, rasp, sculp, sculpt, sculpture, shape, shave), e bëj bukur. (various references)

Arabic 

‏كرر (do again, duplicate, echo, exalt, hammer out, iterate, rectify, redouble, reduplicate, rehearse, reiterate, renew, repeat, say again), ‏هذب (chasten, civilize, cultivate, edify, educate, elevate, file, geld, lop, perfect, polish, prune, retouch, revise, shear off, sublimate, touch, touch up, trim), ‏نقى (purify), ‏نقح (blue pencil, emend, expurgate, file, rectify, retouch, revise, touch up), ‏نعم (ay, aye, tenderize, yea, yes), ‏صفى (clarify, clear, close out, colander, comb out, defecate, determine, do away with, filter, filtrate, leach, liquidate, lixiviate, mop up, polish off, run, sell off, strain, uncloud, wipe out), ‏صقل (buff, buffer, burn, burnish, cultivate, enamel, furbish, gloss, glossiness, grind, lacquer, perfect, planish, plume, polish, rumble, scour, shine, sleek, smooth, stone), ‏جمل (beautify, bedeck, camel, conclude, embellish, enhance, finalize, garnish, improve, ornament, outline, precis, prettify, pretty, smarten, sum up, summarize, totalize, varnish), ‏شذب (cut, cut back, lop, manicure, pare, prune, tip, trim, truncate), ‏دخل تحسينات على. (various references)

Bulgarian 

ставам по изтънчен, ставам по изискан, усъвършенствувам (develop, improve, overwork, perfect), рафинирам (clarify, defecate, distil), впускам се в тънкости, пречиствам се, правя тънки разграничения, правя по изтънчен, правя по изискан, придавам повече финес на, придавам повече изящество на. (various references)

Chinese 

鍊 (ornaments on headstall of horse), 煉 (smelt), 提炼 (refined, refinement). (various references)

Czech

rafinovat (try out), zjemnit (rarefy, soften), vylepšit (upgrade), přeèistit, kultivovat (cultivate, reclaim). (various references)

Danish

saa foelger en normalisering,der har kornforfining som formaal (the second is a normalizing treatment destined to refine the grain), kernehaerdning for at kornforfine kernematerialet (harden the core to refine the microstructure of the core). (various references)

Dutch

raffineren (refining), louteren (clean, cleanse, make clean, purge). (various references)

Esperanto

rafini. (various references)

Faeroese

reinska, reinsa (clean, cleanse, make clean, purge). (various references)

Farsi 

پاک شدن , پالودن (Purify, Strain), تهذیب کردن (Edify), تصفیه کردن (Accommodate, Accord, Administer, Establish, Purify, Rarefy, Smelt, Urbanize), تصحیح کردن (Emend, Emendate, Rectify), خالص کردن (Pure). (various references)

Finnish

puhdistaa (clean, cleanse, clear, clear up, polish, purge, purify, tidy up), mellottaa (puddle), jalostaa raaka-ainetta (process, work up). (various references)

French

raffiner. (various references)

German

verfeinern (improve, polish, rarefy, to hone, to rarefy, to refine), raffinieren (clarify, purify, to refine). (various references)

Greek 

ραφινάρω, βελτιώνω (ameliorate, better, enhance, improve, improve by, meliorate, touch up), εκκαθαρίζω (clean, cleanse, liquidate), εξευγενίζω (ennoble, polish, sublimate, urbanize), διυλίζω (distil, distill, filter, filtrate, percolate). (various references)

Hebrew 

לע�"ן (delight, improve, make tender, sweeten), לזקק (purify, smelt), לצרוף (purify). (various references)

Hungarian

nemesít (to ennoble, to gentle, to improve, to sublimate), finomít (cultivate, to fine, to fine down, to raffinate, to refine, to soften). (various references)

Indonesian

menyaring (filter, sift). (various references)

Italian

raffinare (defecate, ennoble, polish), perfezionare (ameliorate, amend, correct, emend, finish, impove, improve, make perfect, perfect, polish up, specialise, specialize), affinare (improve, sharpen). (various references)

Japanese Kanji 

リ�"ア山猫 (liberation, libido, Libyan wildcat, lift, liftback, living, living kitchen, living room, living room set, living stock, makeover, rebate, reboot, reference, reference guide, referencer, refinance, reflation, reflect, reflection, reflective, reform instructor, reform plan, refrain, refresh, refreshment, repeat, repeater, replace, replicate, replication, reply, repression, reprint, reproduction, revision, rib, rib roast, rift, ripple, rivet, updating), 洗練　 (polish), 洗練 (polish). (various references)

Japanese Katakana 

リファイン , せ�"れ�" (polish, refinement). (various references)

Korean 

세� �하십시�". (various references)

Manx

sheelaghey (clarification, clarification honey, filter, multiply, sober, soil, soil as milk, strain off), aaghlenney (purification, refining). (various references)

Papiamen

rafiná. (various references)

Pig Latin

efineray.(various references)

Portuguese

refinar (defecate, depurate, distil, distill, fine, purify, rectify). (various references)

Romanian

rafina (distil, still), subţia (dilute, taper), se rafina, se perfecţiona (improve, perfect), perfecţiona (accomplish, improve, perfect), curãţa (brush, brush up, burnish, clean, cleanse, clear, demolish, do, dredge, dress, dust, furbish, Gill, grub, mop, mop up, pick, purge, purify, rid, rinse, scavenge, scoop, scour, scrub, skin, trim, wash, wipe), ascuţi (cultivate, edge, give an edge to, grind, hone, intensify, point, put an edge on, set an edge to, sharpen, strop, taper, whet, worsen). (various references)

Russian 

улучшать (ameliorate, develop, improve, meliorate, perfect, rectify), совершенствоваться (develop), совершенствовать (develop, enhance, perfect), рафинировать, очищаться (clean), очищать (brighten, chasten, clarify, clean, clean out, cleanse, clear, decontaminate, defecate, depurate, deterge, distil, edulcorate, evacuate, mop up, purge, purify, rarefy, rectify, scoured, scouring, scours), обогащать (concentrate, dress, enrich, upgrade). (various references)

Serbo-Croatian

rafinisati, preraditi (adapt, process, recycle, rehash, revise, rewrite), prečistiti (percolate, purify, rectify), oplemeniti (dignify, ennoble). (various references)

Spanish

refinar (polish, rarefy, to hone). (various references)

Swedish

rena (clean, cleanse, defecate, depurate, fine, make clean, purge, purify), raffinera (fine), förfina (culture, fine). (various references)

Thai

ทำให้บริสุทธิ์ (purify), ทำให้�"ีขึ้น (enrich), กล่อมเกลา, กลั่น. (various references)

Turkish

rafine etmek, saflaştırmak (distil, distill), kibarlaştırmak (civilize, urbanize), kılı kırk yarmak (go over smth. with a fine comb, niggle, quibble, split, split hairs, strain a gnat, wiredraw), inceltmek (attenuate, diminish, fine away, fine down, reduce, sharpen, slenderize, subtilize, thin, thin down, thin of, thin out), incelmek (become slimer, fine away, fine down, fine off, get thinner, slenderize, slim, subtilize, taper, taper off, thin, thin down, thin of, thin out), ince eleyip sık dokumak (be too fussy, be too particular, fuss, go over, go over smth. with a fine comb, go through, niggle, pick holes in, pick over, scrutinize, sift, split, split hairs), gelişmek (advance, ameliorate, blossom, blossom out, boom, branch out, develop, evolve, expand, flourish, flower, go ahead, grow, grow up, improve, make headway, progress, shape, shape up, thrive, unfold), güzelleşmek (bloom, blossom out, flourish, wax beautiful), düzeltmek (adjust, ameliorate, amend, arrange, better, clean up, correct, dub, emend, face-lift, fix, grade, grade up, haul up, heal, improve, justify, level, level off, level out, meliorate, mend, plane, planish, polish, polish up, reclaim, rectify, redress, reform, regenerate, remedy, reorganize, right, set aright, slick, smooth, smooth away, smooth down, smooth out, smooth over, Spruce, spruce up, Square, straighten, straighten out, tidy up, trim, try out, unbend, unscramble, upgrade), düzelmek (ameliorate, amend, come along, do better, get better, improve, look up, meliorate, mend, recover, reform, smooth down, straighten), arıtmak (clarify, clean, convert, defecate, depurate, expurgate, fine, fine down, isolate, purify, rarefy, smelt). (various references)

Turkmen 

яukalmak, kдmilleюdirmek (improve, perfect). (various references)

Ukrainian

удосконалюватися (improve, progress), удосконалювати (accomplish, develop, improve, perfect), очищатися (clear, defecate), очищати (alcoholize, chasten, clarify, clean, cleanse, clear, defecate, depurate, deterge, fine, outwash, purge, purify, rarefy, rectify, scale, weed). (various references)

Welsh

coethi (babble, bark, chastise). (various references)

excolo, expoliare, poliendos, polita, politis, polito, politorum, tripoli. (various references)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Derivations

Words beginning with "refine": refined, refinement, refinements, refiner, refineries, refiners, refinery, refines. (additional references)

Words containing "refine": overrefined, overrefinement, overrefinements, ultrarefined, unrefined. (additional references)

Misspellings

"Refine" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: Breffni, Breifne, efine, rabine, Raffeen, raffine, rafin, Redfin, refan, refance, refane, refaze, refence, Reffin, reffing, refile, refin, refone, regine, reine, reiney, Reinke, reinve, resine, retine, retinne, revine, rexine, Rufeno, Ruffino, rufin, rufina, trefonnen. (additional references)

Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits.

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams

Direct Anagrams: ferine.

-1 letter: finer, infer.

-2 letters: erne, fere, fern, fine, fire, firn, free, neif, reef, reif, rein, rife.

-3 letters: ere, ern, fee, fen, fer, fie, fin, fir, ire, nee, ree, ref, rei, rif, rin.

-4 letters: ef, en, er, if, in, ne, re.

+1 letter: definer, feigner, fernier, firemen, freeing, reefing, refined, refiner, refines.

+2 letters: befinger, befriend, befringe, definers, feigners, ferniest, fernlike, fevering, fineries, fingered, fingerer, flanerie, fleering, freezing, frenetic, frenzied, frenzies, friended, infecter, inferred, inferrer, infester, niffered, redefine, refiners, refinery, reinfect, reinfuse, rifeness, riflemen.

+3 letters: befingers, befriends, befringed, befringes, benefiter, briefness, deferring, different, enserfing, farseeing, felonries, ferneries, ferreling, ferreting, festering, fettering, fieriness, fingerers, firestone, fishermen, flaneries, foreigner, frenetics, hyperfine, infecters, inferable, inference, inferrers, infertile, infesters, infielder, interface, interfere, interfile, interfuse, predefine, redefined, redefines, redefying, refecting, refection, refeeding, refeeling, refelling, refencing, referring, refinance, reflexing, reflexion, refrained, refueling, refusenik, reinfects, reinflate, reinforce, reinfused, reinfuses, reunified, reunifies, stiffener, superfine, telfering, unbriefed, unfertile, unfreeing, unrefined.