From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishrefinementre‧fine‧ment /rɪˈfaɪnmənt/ AWL noun 1 [countable]ADD an improvement, usually a small one, to something The new model has a number of refinements.2 [countable] something which is an improved version of an existing product, system etcrefinement of The new theory is a refinement of Corbin’s theory of personality development.3 [uncountable]IMPROVE the process of improving something Some further refinement is needed.4 [uncountable] the process of making a substance more pure sugar refinementrefinement of the refinement of cocaine5 [uncountable]POLITE the quality of being polite and well-educated, in a way that is typical of someone from a high social class a woman of great refinement
Examples from the Corpus
refinement• Essentially this feedforward network uses a refinement of the Widrow-Hoff technique, which calculates the difference between actual outputs and desired outputs.• Second time around they added refinements.• a wine of great delicacy and refinement• On April 15 the federal parliament approved refinements to the presidential election process.• Of respectable working-class background with some pretentions to gentility, without formal education, she nevertheless possessed an instinctive refinement of manner.• Having made such strides with the engine and suspension, we added further touches of refinement inside and out.• Several rule refinements come into force this season.• His manners showed refinement and good breeding.• Each of these steps can be further broken down, a process also referred to as stepwise refinement.• Some highly general tendencies, which will necessarily be subject to subsequent refinement and caution, can serve to represent the scene.refinement of• The contract calls for refinement and completion of the aircraft. 