refine

  1. Verb.  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.
  2. Verb.  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.
  3. Verb.  To become pure; to be cleared of feculent matter.
  4. Verb.  To improve in accuracy, delicacy, or excellence.
  5. Verb.  To affect nicety or subtlety in thought or language.

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This entry was last updated on RefTopia from its source on 3/20/2012.