refine

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. v. To reduce to a pure state; purify.
2. v. To remove by purifying.
3. v. To free from coarse, unsuitable, or immoral characteristics: refined his manners; refined her speaking style.
4. v. To become free of impurities.
5. v. To acquire polish or elegance.
6. v. To use precise distinctions and subtlety in thought or speech.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. To bring or reduce to a pure state; free from impurities; free from sediment; defecate; clarify; fine: as, to refine liquor, sugar, or petroleum.
2. In metallurgy, to bring into a condition of purity as complete as the nature of the ore treated will allow. Used chiefly with reference to gold and silver, especially with reference to the separation'(parting) of these two metals from each other and from the baser metals with which they are combined in what are known as bullion-bars or bricks of mixed metals, as they come from the mills located at or near the mines. Refining is, in general, the last stage or stages in the metallurgical treatment of an ore. As the term refining is commonly used with reference to the manufacture of iron, it means the partial decarburization and purification of pig in the open-hearth furnace, for the purpose of rendering it more suitable for use in the puddling-furnace in which the process of converting it into malleable iron is completed. This method of puddling is called dry puddling. The operation of converting pig- into wrought-iron in the open-hearth furnace, when begun and completed without puddling, is generally called fining, and in this process charcoal or coke is used. There are many modifications of the fining process, but the principle is the same in all. In puddling, raw coal is used, and the fuel does not come in contact with the metal; in fining, the ore and fuel (either charcoal or coke) are together upon the same hearth. The various fining processes for converting pig- into wrought-iron, with charcoal as fuel, were of great importance before the invention of puddling, by which method much the larger part of the wrought-iron now used in the world is prepared, and this is done, for the most part, without previous partial decarburization of the pig in the refinery, by the process known as wet puddling, or pig-boiling. See puddle and finery.
3. To purify from what is gross, coarse, debasing, low, vulgar, inelegant, rude, clownish, and the like; make elegant; raise or educate, as the taste; give culture to; polish: as, to refine the manners, taste, language, style, intellect, or moral feelings.
4. To become pure; be cleared of feculent matter.
5. To improve in accuracy, delicacy, or in anything that constitutes excellence.
6. To exhibit nicety or subtlety in thought or language, especially excessive nicety.

Wiktionary

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

GNU Webster's 1913

1. v. 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
2. v. To purify from what is gross, coarse, vulgar, inelegant, low, and the like; to make elegant or exellent; to polish.
3. v. To become pure; to be cleared of feculent matter.
4. v. To improve in accuracy, delicacy, or excellence.
5. v. To affect nicety or subtilty in thought or language.

WordNet 3.0

1. v. treat or prepare so as to put in a usable condition
2. v. make more complex, intricate, or richer
3. v. improve or perfect by pruning or polishing
4. v. reduce to a fine, unmixed, or pure state; separate from extraneous matter or cleanse from impurities
5. v. make more precise or increase the discriminatory powers of
6. v. attenuate or reduce in vigor, strength, or validity by polishing or purifying