refine

CEFRB2

/ɹɪˈfaɪn/

verb

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

01
verb
To improve something by making small changes.
02
verb
Extra detail
To become pure; to be cleared of impure matter.

Examples

Does Algeria have the infrastructure to refine its own crude oil?
Good day, lords. In what way can I refine upon my adroitness in aural comprehension?

At a glance

Sits at B2 on the CEFR scale

Senses: 5
Parts of speech: 1
Citations: 4

Deep Dive

verb

Extra meanings

To purify of coarseness, vulgarity, inelegance, etc.; to polish.
To purify; reduce to a fine, unmixed, or pure state; to free from impurities.
To improve in accuracy, delicacy, or excellence.

More examples

In context

Is Algeria's oil cheap to refine?
to refine gold
to refine iron

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The company hired experts to blank the crude oil into pure gasoline.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Citations

The word in print, with each source given in full.

My dear Harriet, you must not refine too much upon this charade.—You will betray your feelings improperly, if you are too conscious and too quick, and appear to affix more meaning, or even quite all the meaning which may be affixed to it.
1815, Jane Austen, Emma, volume I, chapter 9
The dawn of the oil age was fairly recent. Although the stuff was used to waterproof boats in the Middle East 6,000 years ago, extracting it in earnest began only in 1859 after an oil strike in Pennsylvania.[…]It was used to make kerosene, the main fuel for artificial lighting after overfishing led to a shortage of whale blubber. Other liquids produced in the refining process, too unstable or smoky for lamplight, were burned or dumped.
2013 August 3, “Yesterday’s fuel”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8847
Adjust the volume, tweak the contours, refine the timing and, if need be, fiddle with the setting, and the hoariest yuck-fest can seem as dewy as a morning in May. Examples of tales told ticklingly are in unusual abundance here, with comedies for every taste within the mainstream of London theater.
2007 August 2, Ben Brantley, “Titters, Snickers and Guffaws, With a British Accent”, in New York Times
HS2 Ltd has continued to refine the designs, so that seven fewer ancient woodlands will be affected. This reduces the total number to 25. And of those 25 woodlands, 85% of the total area will remain untouched by HS2.
2023 August 23, Chris Howe, “Green screen: HS2's route through the shires”, in RAIL, number 990, page 34

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Origin

verb

From re- + fine.

Deep Dive

verb

More examples

Quick test

The company hired experts to blank— the crude oil into pure gasoline.

Nearby

Origin

verb

The company hired experts to blank the crude oil into pure gasoline.