4  definitions  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  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. 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Refine  \Re*fine"\,  v.  i. 
  1.  To  become  pure;  to  be  cleared  of  feculent  matter. 
 
  So  the  pure,  limpid  stream,  when  foul  with  stains, 
  Works  itself  clear,  and  as  it  runs,  refines. 
  --Addison. 
 
  2.  To  improve  in  accuracy,  delicacy,  or  excellence. 
 
  Chaucer  refined  on  Boccace  and  mended  his  stories. 
  --Dryden. 
 
  But  let  a  lord  once  own  the  happy  lines,  How  the  wit 
  brightens!  How  the  style  refines!  --Pope. 
 
  3.  To  affect  nicety  or  subtilty  in  thought  or  language.  ``He 
  makes  another  paragraph  about  our  refining  in 
  controversy.''  --Atterbury. 
 
  From  WordNet  r  1.6  [wn]: 
 
  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" 
  5:  attenuate  or  reduce  in  vigor,  strength,  or  validity  by 
  polishing  or  purifying;  "many  valuble  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" 
 
  From  The  Free  On-line  Dictionary  of  Computing  (13  Mar  01)  [foldoc]: 
 
  REFINE 
 
  1.  "Research  on  Knowledge-Based  Software  Environments  at 
  Kestrel  Institute",  D.R.  Smith  et  al  IEEE  Trans  Soft  Eng, 
  SE-11(11)  (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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