Part 144

2. That which is refined, elaborated, or polished to excess; an affected subtilty; as, refinements of logic. "The refinements of irregular cunning." Rogers.

Syn. -- Purification; polish; politeness; gentility; elegance; cultivation; civilization.

Re*fin"er (-f?n"?r), n. One who, or that which, refines.

Re*fin"er*y (-?), n.; pl. Refineries (-&?;z). [Cf. F. raffinerie.] 1. The building and apparatus for refining or purifying, esp. metals and sugar.

2. A furnace in which cast iron is refined by the action of a blast on the molten metal.

Re*fit" (r?*f?t"), v. t. 1. To fit or prepare for use again; to repair; to restore after damage or decay; as, to refit a garment; to refit ships of war. Macaulay.

2. To fit out or supply a second time.

Re*fit", v. i. To obtain repairs or supplies; as, the fleet returned to refit.

Re*fit"ment (-ment), n. The act of refitting, or the state of being refitted.

Re*fix" (r?*f?ks"), v. t. To fix again or anew; to establish anew. Fuller.

Re*flame" (r?*fl?m"), v. i. To kindle again into flame.

Re*flect" (r?*fl?kt"), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Reflected; p. pr. & vb. n. Reflecting.] [L. reflectere, reflexum; pref. re- re- + flectere to bend or turn. See Flexible, and cf. Reflex, v.] 1. To bend back; to give a backwa&?;d turn to; to throw back; especially, to cause to return after striking upon any surface; as, a mirror reflects rays of light; polished metals reflect heat.

Let me mind the reader to reflect his eye on our quotations.

Fuller.

Bodies close together reflect their own color.

Dryden.

2. To give back an image or likeness of; to mirror.

Nature is the glass reflecting God, As by the sea reflected is the sun.

Young.

Re*flect" v. i. 1. To throw back light, heat, or the like; to return rays or beams.

2. To be sent back; to rebound as from a surface; to revert; to return.

Whose virtues will, I hope, Reflect on Rome, as Titan's rays on earth.

Shak.

3. To throw or turn back the thoughts upon anything; to contemplate. Specifically: To attend earnestly to what passes within the mind; to attend to the facts or phenomena of consciousness; to use attention or earnest thought; to meditate; especially, to think in relation to moral truth or rules.

We can not be said to reflect upon any external object, except so far as that object has been previously perceived, and its image become part and parcel of our intellectual furniture.

Sir W. Hamilton.

All men are concious of the operations of their own minds, at all times, while they are awake, but there few who reflect upon them, or make them objects of thought.

Reid.