refinere‧fine /rɪˈfaɪn/ ●○○ AWL verb [transitive] 
Verb Table Examples
Car makers are constantly refining their designs.2to make a substance purer using an industrial process → refinery: oil refining
Verb TableVERB TABLE
refine
| Simple Form | ||
| Present | I, you, we, they | refine |
| he, she, it | refines | |
| Past | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | refined |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have refined |
| he, she, it | has refined | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had refined |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will refine |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have refined |
| Continuous Form | ||
| Present | I | am refining |
| he, she, it | is refining | |
| you, we, they | are refining | |
| Past | I, he, she, it | was refining |
| you, we, they | were refining | |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have been refining |
| he, she, it | has been refining | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had been refining |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will be refining |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have been refining |
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
Thesaurus- refined petroleum
- After the first refining process the metal is washed.
- Engineers are working on developing and refining the car engines.
- It was a four week course, aimed at refining our understanding of the managerial role.
- The dealers buy raw cocaine in the south, refine it here, and smuggle it into the north.
- The oil is piped to the coast, where it is refined.
- There are huge profits in growing and refining cocaine.
- Volvo spent three years refining the design of their new car.
- As they received complaints about this see-sawing, they began to refine their delegating behavior.
- In future it could provide cosmologists with a firm age with which to refine their models of how the Universe was formed.
- The authors suggest that new experiments to refine the system parameters should be carried out to achieve real global minimum.
- The methods have been refined over the years, but not radically changed.
- The New Ager certainly demonstrates some of these qualities in the way that he creates and refines an original artistic fiction.
Longman Language Activatorto keep improving something until it is perfect► perfect
Collocations to improve something such as a skill, system, or something you have designed until you make it perfect: · The best way to perfect your Spanish is to live in a country where it's spoken.· The Chief Executive of the company said that they had spent ten years on perfecting the product.perfect the art/technique etc (of doing something): · Dom Perignon perfected the art of blending wines from many different vineyards.
► refine to make something as good as possible by checking it again and again and making small changes each time until you are satisfied: · Volvo spent three years refining the design of their new car.· It was a four week course, aimed at refining our understanding of the managerial role.
► fine-tune to make small changes to a plan or system that is already good, so that it works as well as possible: · You've established the general direction you want to go in, now you need to fine-tune your plans.· The election campaign had to be constantly fine-tuned so that the right message got across.
to make a substance pure► purify · You can purify water by boiling and filtering it.· It has been found that houseplants help purify the air.· The solution is purified by passing it through a carbon filter.· a bottle of purified linseed oil
► refine to make a substance such as oil or metal pure using an industrial process: · The oil is piped to the coast, where it is refined.· The dealers buy raw cocaine in the south, refine it here, and smuggle it into the north.· After the first refining process the metal is washed.· refined petroleum
► distil British /distill American to make a liquid, for example alcohol or water, purer by heating it so that it becomes a gas and then allowing it to go cold again: · My grandfather used to distil whisky on the farm.· The solution is distilled until it is 95% pure.· Only distilled water should be used for cleaning contact lenses.
WORD SETS► Industryaggregate, nounalloy, nounamber, nounanneal, verbarc welding, nounasbestos, nounassay, verbautomaker, nounaviation, nounBakelite, nounbasketry, nounbenzene, nounbevel, nounbiodegradable, adjectiveblast, verbblast furnace, nounboom, nounboom town, nounbore, verbbore, nounborehole, nounby-product, nouncane, nouncast, verbcasting, nouncedar, nounchipboard, nounchippings, nouncoalface, nouncollier, nouncolliery, nounconcentrate, nouncondenser, nounconstruction, nounconstructor, nounconverter, nouncork, nouncottage industry, nouncross-grained, adjectivecrude, adjectivedeskill, verbdetonate, verbdetonator, noundetoxification, noundevelopment, noundie, noundie casting, noundiesel, noundiesel fuel, noundiggings, noundrill, verbdrive, verbelectronics, nounend product, nounepoxy resin, nounextrude, verbfabricate, verbfabrication, nounforge, nounfound, verbfoundry, nounglass fibre, noungoldmine, nounground glass, nounhigh technology, nounindustrial, adjectiveindustrial archaeology, nounindustrialism, nounindustrialist, nounindustrialization, nouningot, nouninstallation, nounjute, nounlaminate, nounlaminated, adjectivelaser, nounlatex, nounlight industry, nounlime, nounlode, nounlow-tech, adjectivelubricant, nounlubricate, verbmacadam, nounmacerate, verbmachine, verbmachine tool, nounmachinist, nounmaker, nounmanganese, nounmanufacture, verbmanufacture, nounmasonry, nounmaterial, nounmatrix, nounmeat-packing, nounmetal, nounmetal fatigue, nounmetallic, adjectivemetallurgy, nounmetalwork, nounmill, verbmine, nounmine, verbminer, nounmining, nounmodular, adjectivemodule, nounmolten, adjectivemolybdenum, nounmortise, nounmother lode, nounmould, verbmoulding, nounochre, nounoff-cut, nounoil, nounoil paint, nounopencast, adjectiveoxyacetylene, nounpackaging, nounpaint stripper, nounpaintwork, nounpaling, nounpallet, nounpan, nounpanelling, nounpanel pin, nounpaper, adjectivepapier mâché, nounpatent leather, nounperfumery, nounpit, nounpitch, nounpithead, nounplane, verbplant, nounplywood, nounpost-industrial, adjectiveprocess, nounproduce, verbproduct, nounproduction, nounproductivity, nounpulp, verbpump, verbPVC, nounquarry, nounquartz, nounready-made, adjectiverefine, verbrefined, adjectivereprocess, verbroller, nounrough-hewn, adjectiverubber, nounsafety lamp, nounsandblast, verbsealskin, nounshaft, nounshavings, nounsheeting, nounsheet metal, nounshipbuilder, nounskilled, adjectiveslag, nounslag heap, nounsludge, nounslurry, nounsmelt, verbsmith, nounsmithy, nounsmokestack, nounsmokestack industry, nounsoftwood, nounsolder, nounsolder, verbsoldering iron, nounspirit level, nounspray paint, nounsteam, nounsteel, nounstrip mine, nounStyrofoam, nounsunrise industry, nounsynthesis, nounsynthesize, verbtannery, nountemper, verbtensile strength, nountextile, nounthree-ply, adjectiveunrefined, adjectiveunvarnished, adjectiveupright, nounvarnish, nounvat, nounvinyl, nounvulcanize, verbwarehouse, nounwattle, nounwax, nounwaxen, adjectivewaxy, adjectiveweld, verbweld, nounwelder, nounwickerwork, nounwire, nounwood, nounwood pulp, nounwork, verbworking, nounworkshop, nounwrought iron, nounyarn, noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES► refined oil
Word family (=oil that has been treated by an industrial process)· They had exported refined oil.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADVERB► further· This search can be further refined by defining minimum profitability, location etc, until a short list of companies is identified.· In a year, as designers further refine the technology, the price could sink to $ 7, 000.· Even though Giddens has further refined the detail of the theory, this basic aspect has not changed.· Constitutional theorists have further refined their analysis of constitutions, creating other points of comparison.
► more· As the foragers grow older they move from a juvenile taste for sweet nectar to a more refined preference for pollen.· Another and more refined use of the technique occurred at Preston Trucking Company in the late 1970s.· More refined dishes are to be category.· Schemata never stop changing or becoming more refined.· He has a much more refined sensibility than I even aspire to.· As a child becomes better able to generalize across stimuli, schemata become more refined.· Others, the cuckoos included, are more refined birds and concentrate on just a few victims.· But the traders did not become correspondingly more refined in their behavior.
NOUN► company· The leaded petrol market is shrinking so fast that some major petroleum companies have discontinued refining leaded petrol.
► method· The community power debate has continued into the 1970s and 1980s with both elitists and pluralists refining their methods and theoretical arguments.· While the list of proposed transportation projects is being refined, possible methods to close the funding gap are being considered.· I argued that individuals can gain great advantage from their ability to refine and enrich their methods of communication by this means.· The Regional Action Network illustrates how campaigners have refined their methods.
► sugar· H plant for use in sugar refining.
► system· The authors suggest that new experiments to refine the system parameters should be carried out to achieve real global minimum.· Its collective confidence is gradually restored, and from this confidence emerges a refined and revitalized system of core organizational beliefs.
► technique· Another and more refined use of the technique occurred at Preston Trucking Company in the late 1970s.· Fifty years of refining training techniques and equipment and breeding for selected deformities have created a monster out of a horse.
VERB► become· Schemata never stop changing or becoming more refined.· As a child becomes better able to generalize across stimuli, schemata become more refined.· But the traders did not become correspondingly more refined in their behavior.· Lobbying has become so refined that lobbyists now hold teaching seminars for one another.
► develop· This is the logic the new managers had to develop and refine.· At this time, the interpretation of some of these tests has not been completely developed and refined.· Like their comrades from earlier wars, many GIs developed and refined the craft of scrounging into a high art.
WORD FAMILYnounrefinementrefineryadjectiverefined ≠ unrefinedverbrefine
1to improve a method, plan, system etc by gradually making slight changes to it: Car makers are constantly refining their designs.2to make a substance purer using an industrial process → refinery: oil refining