Hypertext Webster Gateway: "subtilize"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Subtilize \Sub"til*ize\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Subtilized}; p.
pr. & vb. n. {Subtilizing}.] [L. subtiliser.]
1. To make thin or fine; to make less gross or coarse.
2. To refine; to spin into niceties; as, to subtilize
arguments.
Nor as yet have we subtilized ourselves into
savages. --Burke.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Subtilize \Sub"til*ize\, v. i.
To refine in argument; to make very nice distinctions.
--Milner.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
subtilize
v 1: mark fine distinctions and subtleties, as among words
2: make more subtle or refined [syn: {rarefy}, {sublimate}]
3: make more keen, as of the senses [syn: {subtilise}]
Additional Hypertext Webster Gateway Lookup
Gateway by dict@stokkie.net
stock only wrote the gateway and does not have any control over the contents;
see the Webster Gateway FAQ,
and also the Back-end/database links and credits.