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Fine   /faɪn/   Listen
adjective
fine  adj.  (compar. finer; superl. finest)  
1.
Finished; brought to perfection; refined; hence, free from impurity; excellent; superior; elegant; worthy of admiration; accomplished; beautiful. "The gain thereof (is better) than fine gold." "A cup of wine that's brisk and fine." "Not only the finest gentleman of his time, but one of the finest scholars." "To soothe the sick bed of so fine a being (Keats)."
2.
Aiming at show or effect; loaded with ornament; overdressed or overdecorated; showy. "He gratified them with occasional... fine writing."
3.
Nice; delicate; subtle; exquisite; artful; skillful; dexterous. "The spider's touch, how exquisitely fine!" "The nicest and most delicate touches of satire consist in fine raillery." "He has as fine a hand at picking a pocket as a woman."
4.
Not coarse, gross, or heavy; as:
(a)
Not gross; subtile; thin; tenous. "The eye standeth in the finer medium and the object in the grosser."
(b)
Not coarse; comminuted; in small particles; as, fine sand or flour.
(c)
Not thick or heavy; slender; filmy; as, a fine thread.
(d)
Thin; attenuate; keen; as, a fine edge.
(e)
Made of fine materials; light; delicate; as, fine linen or silk.
5.
Having (such) a proportion of pure metal in its composition; as, coins nine tenths fine.
6.
(Used ironically.) "Ye have made a fine hand, fellows." Note: Fine is often compounded with participles and adjectives, modifying them adverbially; a, fine-drawn, fine-featured, fine-grained, fine-spoken, fine-spun, etc.
Fine arch (Glass Making), the smaller fritting furnace of a glasshouse.
Fine arts. See the Note under Art.
Fine cut, fine cut tobacco; a kind of chewing tobacco cut up into shreds.
Fine goods, woven fabrics of fine texture and quality.
Fine stuff, lime, or a mixture of lime, plaster, etc., used as material for the finishing coat in plastering.
To sail fine (Naut.), to sail as close to the wind as possible.
Synonyms: Fine, Beautiful. When used as a word of praise, fine (being opposed to coarse) denotes no "ordinary thing of its kind." It is not as strong as beautiful, in reference to the single attribute implied in the latter term; but when we speak of a fine woman, we include a greater variety of particulars, viz., all the qualities which become a woman, breeding, sentiment, tact, etc. The term is equally comprehensive when we speak of a fine garden, landscape, horse, poem, etc.; and, though applied to a great variety of objects, the word has still a very definite sense, denoting a high degree of characteristic excellence.



noun
Fine  n.  
1.
End; conclusion; termination; extinction. (Obs.) "To see their fatal fine." "Is this the fine of his fines?"
2.
A sum of money paid as the settlement of a claim, or by way of terminating a matter in dispute; especially, a payment of money imposed upon a party as a punishment for an offense; a mulct.
3.
(Law)
(a)
(Feudal Law) A final agreement concerning lands or rents between persons, as the lord and his vassal.
(b)
(Eng. Law) A sum of money or price paid for obtaining a benefit, favor, or privilege, as for admission to a copyhold, or for obtaining or renewing a lease.
Fine for alienation (Feudal Law), a sum of money paid to the lord by a tenant whenever he had occasion to make over his land to another.
Fine of lands, a species of conveyance in the form of a fictitious suit compromised or terminated by the acknowledgment of the previous owner that such land was the right of the other party. See Concord, n., 4.
In fine, in conclusion; by way of termination or summing up.



verb
Fine  v. t. & v. i.  To finish; to cease; or to cause to cease. (Obs.)



Fine  v. t.  (past & past part. fined; pres. part. fining)  
1.
To make fine; to refine; to purify, to clarify; as, to fine gold. "It hath been fined and refined by... learned men."
2.
To make finer, or less coarse, as in bulk, texture, etc.; as. to fine the soil.
3.
To change by fine gradations; as (Naut.), to fine down a ship's lines, to diminish her lines gradually. "I often sate at home On evenings, watching how they fined themselves With gradual conscience to a perfect night."



Fine  v. t.  To impose a pecuniary penalty upon for an offense or breach of law; to set a fine on by judgment of a court; to punish by fine; to mulct; as, the trespassers were fined ten dollars.



Fine  v. i.  To pay a fine. See Fine, n., 3 (b). (R.) "Men fined for the king's good will; or that he would remit his anger; women fined for leave to marry."



Fine  v. i.  To become fine (in any one of various senses); as, the ale will fine; the weather fined.
To fine away, To fine down, To fine off, gradually to become fine; to diminish; to dwindle. "I watched her (the ship)... gradually fining down in the westward until I lost of her hull."



adverb
Fine  adv.  
1.
Finely; well; elegantly; fully; delicately; mincingly. (Obs., Dial., or Colloq.)
2.
(Billiards & Pool) In a manner so that the driven ball strikes the object ball so far to one side as to be deflected but little, the object ball being driven to one side.






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Fine" Quotes from Famous Books



... from ten to sixteen hours a day, and break down after a short time. Boots and shoes oblige being on the feet all day; and this is the case for saleswomen, cash-girls, and all factory-workers. In type-founderies the air is always filled with a fine dust produced by rubbing, and the girls employed have no color in their faces. In paper-box making constant standing brings on the same difficulties found among all workers who stand all day; and they complain ...
— Women Wage-Earners - Their Past, Their Present, and Their Future • Helen Campbell

... heard a bullet whistle near his head. The Secesh soldier on the shore had loaded up his companions' muskets, and was doing his best to bring down the lucky fugitive. His last shot was not a bad one, and Tom could not help thinking, if the grayback should hit him, that he would not waste any fine feelings over him. He did not like the sound of those whizzing bullets, and as he had never boasted of his courage, he did not scorn to adopt precautionary measures. The water was three inches deep in the bottom of the bateau; but Tom deemed it prudent to lie down there until the current ...
— The Soldier Boy; or, Tom Somers in the Army - A Story of the Great Rebellion • Oliver Optic

... a fine estate, my dear. Sir Harry is a nice young fellow, but a fool. An absentee landlord, too,' grumbled Mrs Pansey, resentfully. 'Always running over the world poking his nose into what doesn't concern him, like the Wandering Jew or the Flying ...
— The Bishop's Secret • Fergus Hume

... only in prophetic vision, enraptured the mind even of Isaiah; and when realized, can hardly fail to delight that of a spectator. At least, it may compensate the want of ancient castles, ruined abbeys, and fine pictures. ...
— Choice Specimens of American Literature, And Literary Reader - Being Selections from the Chief American Writers • Benj. N. Martin

... which his father brought him, and on which he took him out a-hunting—a great deal better than Corderius and Lily; marshalled the village boys, and had a little court of them, already flogging them, and domineering over them with a fine imperious spirit, that made his father laugh when he beheld it, and his mother fondly warn him. The cook had a son, the woodman had two, the big lad at the porter's lodge took his cuffs and his orders. Doctor Tusher said he was a young nobleman ...
— Henry Esmond; The English Humourists; The Four Georges • William Makepeace Thackeray


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