Search Result for "refining": 
Wordnet 3.0

NOUN (1)

1. the process of removing impurities (as from oil or metals or sugar etc.);
[syn: refining, refinement, purification]


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Refine \Re*fine"\ (r?*f?n"), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Refined (-find"); p. pr. & vb. n. Refining.] [Pref. re- + fine to make fine: cf. F. raffiner.] 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. [1913 Webster] I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined. --Zech. xiii. 9. [1913 Webster] 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. [1913 Webster] Love refines The thoughts, and heart enlarges. --Milton. [1913 Webster] Syn: To purify; clarify; polish; ennoble. [1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

refining n 1: the process of removing impurities (as from oil or metals or sugar etc.) [syn: refining, refinement, purification]