Other forms: refineries
A refinery is a plant that purifies oil or sugar. An oil refinery, the refinery gate, a sugar refinery.
An oil refinery separates crude into fractions by boiling point in a distillation column — petrol, diesel, kerosene and the rest come out at different heights. Refineries run continuously for years between shutdowns because starting and stopping is the expensive part. Note refine, refinement; and that a sugar refinery does the same job of separation on a quite different material.
1nounrefineryA plant that purifies oil or sugar.
“Tankers unload crude oil at the refinery on the coast.”
refinery is an industrial plant.
From refine + -ry.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA