DICT.TW Dictionary Taiwan
Re·fine v. t. [imp. & p. p. Refined p. pr. & vb. n. Refining.]
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.
refining
n : the process of removing impurities (as from oil or metals or
sugar etc.) [syn: refinement, purification]