refined; refining
1
: to free (something, such as metal, sugar, or oil) from impurities or unwanted material
2
: to free from moral imperfection : elevate
3
: to improve or perfect by pruning or polishing
refine a poetic style
4
: to reduce in vigor or intensity
5
: to free from what is coarse, vulgar, or uncouth
1
: to become pure or perfected
2
: to make improvement by introducing subtleties or distinctions
refiner
noun
Examples of refine in a Sentence
The inventor of the machine spent years refining the design.
The class is meant to help you refine your writing style.
Recent Examples on the Web
Once exclusively focused on hardware design, medical device companies today are expanding their thinking to incorporate consumer requests into software updates that refine functionality and introduce new features.
—
Ross Meyercord, Forbes.com, 28 May 2025
Villa endeavoured to refine a more compact defensive structure while being clinical up front… and the response was startling.
—Jacob Tanswell, New York Times, 28 May 2025
Students will also receive qualitative feedback from FSF adjunct faculty partners within 48 business hours of each assignment submission, helping students improve and refine their ideas ahead of the competition deadline.
—Lisa Lockwood, Footwear News, 28 May 2025
Large rocks containing chromite, is crushed into smaller bitesize chunks, before to goes through a process to refine and extract the ore that yields chromium, a vital component of stainless steel, at the Mughulkhil mine in Logar Province, Afghanistan.
—Evelyn Cheng, CNBC, 28 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for refine
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Ross Meyercord, Forbes.com, 28 May 2025
Villa endeavoured to refine a more compact defensive structure while being clinical up front… and the response was startling.
—Jacob Tanswell, New York Times, 28 May 2025
Students will also receive qualitative feedback from FSF adjunct faculty partners within 48 business hours of each assignment submission, helping students improve and refine their ideas ahead of the competition deadline.
—Lisa Lockwood, Footwear News, 28 May 2025
Large rocks containing chromite, is crushed into smaller bitesize chunks, before to goes through a process to refine and extract the ore that yields chromium, a vital component of stainless steel, at the Mughulkhil mine in Logar Province, Afghanistan.
—Evelyn Cheng, CNBC, 28 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for refine
Cite this Entry
“Refine.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/refine. Accessed 2 Jun. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
refine
verb
re·fine
ri-ˈfīn 
refined; refining
1
: to come or bring to a pure state
refine sugar
2
: to make or become improved
3
: to free from what is vulgar
4
: to improve by introducing something that makes a small difference
refined upon the older methods
refiner
noun
Medical Definition
refine
transitive verb
re·fine
ri-ˈfīn
refined; refining
: to free (as sugar or oil) from impurities or unwanted material
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