Define vs. Refine

Defineverb

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

‘the defining power of an optical instrument’;

Refineverb

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

‘to refine gold’; ‘to refine iron’; ‘to refine wine’; ‘to refine sugar’;

Defineverb

(obsolete) To settle, decide an argument etc.

Refineverb

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

Defineverb

To express the essential nature of something.

‘I define myself as a techno-anarchist.’;

Refineverb

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

‘to refine someone's manners’; ‘to refine a language’; ‘A refined style’; ‘to refine one's tastes’;

Defineverb

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

‘The textbook defined speed as velocity divided by time.’;

Refineverb

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

Defineverb

To describe, explain, or make definite and clear.

Refineverb

(transitive) To make nice or subtle

‘to refine thought’; ‘to refine someone's language’;

Defineverb

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

‘to define the legal boundaries of a property’;

Refineverb

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.

‘I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined.’;

Defineverb

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

Refineverb

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.

‘Love refinesThe thoughts, and heart enlarges.’;

Definenoun

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

Refineverb

To become pure; to be cleared of feculent matter.

‘So the pure, limpid stream, when foul with stains,Works itself clear, and, as it runs, refines.’;

Defineverb

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

Refineverb

To improve in accuracy, delicacy, or excellence.

‘Chaucer refined on Boccace, and mended his stories.’; ‘But let a lord once own the happy lines,How the wit brightens! How the style refines!’;

Defineverb

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

Refineverb

To affect nicety or subtilty in thought or language.

Defineverb

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

‘Rings . . . very distinct and well defined.’;

Refineverb

improve or perfect by pruning or polishing;

‘refine one's style of writing’;

Defineverb

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.

‘They define virtue to be life ordered according to nature.’;

Refineverb

make more complex, intricate, or richer;

‘refine a design or pattern’;

Defineverb

To determine; to decide.

Refineverb

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

‘refine paper stock’; ‘refine pig iron’; ‘refine oil’;

Defineverb

give a definition for the meaning of a word;

‘Define `sadness'’;

Refineverb

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

‘refine sugar’;

Defineverb

determine the essential quality of

Refineverb

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

‘many valuable nutrients are refined out of the foods in our modern diet’;

Defineverb

determine the nature of;

‘What defines a good wine?’;

Refineverb

make more precise or increase the discriminatory powers of;

‘refine a method of analysis’; ‘refine the constant in the equation’;

Defineverb

delineate the form or outline of;

‘The tree was clearly defined by the light’; ‘The camera could define the smallest object’;

Refineverb

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

‘sugar was refined by boiling it in huge iron vats’;

Defineverb

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

‘the contract will seek to define the client's obligations’;

Refineverb

make minor changes so as to improve or clarify (a theory or method)

‘ease of access to computers has refined analysis and presentation of data’;

Defineverb

give the meaning of (a word or phrase), especially in a dictionary

‘the dictionary defines it as ‘a type of pasture’’;

Defineverb

make up or establish the character or essence of

‘for some, the football club defines their identity’;

Defineverb

mark out the boundary or limits of

‘the river defines the park's boundary’;

Defineverb

make clear the outline of; delineate

‘she defined her eyes by applying eyeshadow to her eyelids’;