Refine1. (v. t.) 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.
2. (v. t.) 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. (v. i.) To become pure; to be cleared of feculent matter.
4. (v. i.) To improve in accuracy, delicacy, or excellence.
5. (v. i.) To affect nicety or subtlety in thought or language.
Thesaurus Entries
abate, abrade, abstract, acculturate, advance, ameliorate, amend, bate, beautify, better, bolt, boost, bring forward, carve, chisel, civilize, clarify, cleanse, clear, colliquate, concentrate, convert, cultivate, curtail, decoct, decontaminate, decrassify, decrease, deduct, defrost, depreciate, depurate, derogate, detract, develop, diminish, disparage, distill, drain, eat away, edify, educate, edulcorate, elaborate, elevate, elute, embellish, emend, enhance, enlighten, enrich, erode, essentialize, evolve, excite, express, extract, fatten, favor, file away, filter, filtrate, finish, flux, focus, forward, foster, fuse, go straight, grow, harvest, hone, impair, improve, improve upon, infuse, lard, leach, lessen, lift, lixiviate, machine, make an improvement, make sensitive, mature, meliorate, melt, melt down, mend, mill, mine, narrow, nurture, oversimplify, percolate, perfect, polish, press out, process, promote, pump, purify, quicken, raise, rear, rectify, reduce, reduce to elements, refine upon, reform, remove, render, retrench, ripen, round, rub away, run, screen, season, sensibilize, sensitize, separate, sharpen, shorten, sieve, sift, simplify, sleek, slick, smelt, smooth, soak, socialize, spiritualize, steep, stimulate, stir, straighten out, strain, streamline, strip down, subduct, sublimate, sublime, subtilize, subtract, take away, take from, thaw, thin, thin out, transfigure, transform, try, unfreeze, upgrade, uplift, wear away, weed, whet, winnow, withdraw, wring, wring out