Define vs. Refine — What's the Difference?

State or describe exactly the nature, scope, or meaning of

Remove impurities or unwanted elements from (a substance), typically as part of an industrial process

Mark out the boundary or limits of

To reduce to a pure state; purify.

To state the precise meaning of (a word or sense of a word, for example).

To remove by purifying.

To describe the nature or basic qualities of; explain

To free from coarse, unsuitable, or immoral characteristics

To make clear the outline or form of; delineate

To become free of impurities.

To specify distinctly

To acquire polish or elegance.

To give form or meaning to

To use precise distinctions and subtlety in thought or speech.

To make or write a definition.

(transitive) To purify; reduce to a fine, unmixed, or pure state; to free from impurities.

To determine with precision; to mark out with distinctness; to ascertain or exhibit clearly.

(intransitive) To become pure; to be cleared of impure matter.

(obsolete) To settle, decide an argument etc.

(transitive) To purify of coarseness, vulgarity, inelegance, etc.; to polish.

To express the essential nature of something.

(ambitransitive) To improve in accuracy, delicacy, or excellence.

To state the meaning of a word, phrase, sign, or symbol.

(transitive) To make nice or subtle.

To describe, explain, or make definite and clear; used to request the listener or other person to elaborate or explain more clearly his or her intended meaning of a word or expression.

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.

To demark sharply the outlines or limits of an area or concept.

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.

(mathematics) To establish the referent of a term or notation.

To become pure; to be cleared of feculent matter.

(programming) A kind of macro in source code that replaces one text string with another wherever it occurs.

To improve in accuracy, delicacy, or excellence.

To fix the bounds of; to bring to a termination; to end.

To affect nicety or subtilty in thought or language.

To determine or clearly exhibit the boundaries of; to mark the limits of; as, to define the extent of a kingdom or country.

Improve or perfect by pruning or polishing;

To determine with precision; to mark out with distinctness; to ascertain or exhibit clearly; as, the defining power of an optical instrument.

Make more complex, intricate, or richer;

To determine the precise signification of; to fix the meaning of; to describe accurately; to explain; to expound or interpret; as, to define a word, a phrase, or a scientific term.

Treat or prepare so as to put in a usable condition;

To determine; to decide.

Reduce to a fine, unmixed, or pure state; separate from extraneous matter or cleanse from impurities;

Give a definition for the meaning of a word;

Attenuate or reduce in vigor, strength, or validity by polishing or purifying;

Determine the essential quality of

Make more precise or increase the discriminatory powers of;

Determine the nature of;

Delineate the form or outline of;