What does refine mean?
Word: Refine
Part of Speech: Verb
Meaning: Refine means to make a substance pure, or to make a plan, skill or piece of work more exact through small changes.
Synonyms: polish, perfect
How do you spell refine?
Syllables: re - fine
Tricky part: The first sound is like ri, so students write rifine. It is spelt with re.
Watch out for: rifine, refyne
Memory tip: Picture the start of return and rebuild: refine begins with the same r-e.
Refine in a sentence
Example 1: Good cooks refine a recipe by testing it many times.
Example 2: The dancers refined their steps before the annual day show.
Example 3: Gold is refined to take out other metals mixed with it.
Fun Fact
The Jamnagar refinery in Gujarat, which turns crude oil into fuels such as petrol and diesel, is among the largest oil refineries in the world.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Makeup
Choose the suffix that completes the word:
refine___
a) ment
b) mant
c) mint
d) mont
Show answer
a) ment. The -ment ending of enjoyment and movement turns this verb into a noun.
Spell-o-Spell
Choose the correctly spelt word:
a) delicasy
b) elegent
c) presicion
d) refine
Show answer
d) refine. Elegant ends in -ant, precision puts the c before the s, and delicacy ends in -acy.
Word Cookie
Find the misspelt word in the sentence:
The pastry chef took weeks to reffine her recipe for mango cheesecake.
a) weeks
b) pastry
c) cheesecake
d) reffine
Show answer
d) reffine. Only one f stands between the e and the i.
Word Connection
Choose the synonym of the word:
refine
a) improve
b) spoil
c) ignore
d) repeat
Show answer
a) improve. Both words mean making something better; spoil does the opposite, and ignoring or repeating changes nothing.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Workers at a sugar mill refine raw sugar. What happens to it?
a) it is sold straight from the field
b) salt is stirred into it before sale
c) its brown, sticky parts are removed
d) it is packed into small paper bags
Show answer
c) its brown, sticky parts are removed
2. Asha refined her science project after her teacher's comments. This means she ____.
a) handed it in without looking at it
b) asked a friend to finish it for her
c) made careful small changes to it
d) threw it away and began again
Show answer
c) made careful small changes to it
