Fine (fīn),
v. i. To become fine (in any one of various senses); as, the ale will
fine; the weather fined.
To fine away, down, 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.
W. C. Russel.
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.
Fine , v. t. &
i. [OF. finer, F. finir. See Finish, v. t.]
To finish; to
cease; or to
cause to cease. [Obs.]
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.
Hallam.
Fine , v. t. [From Fine, n.]
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 (?), n. [OE. fin, L. finis end, also in LL., a
final agreement or concord between the lord and his
vassal; a sum of money
paid at the
end, so as to make an end of
a transaction, suit, or prosecution; mulct; penalty; cf. OF. fin end, settlement, F. fin end. See Finish, and cf. Finance.]
1. End; conclusion; termination; extinction. [Obs.] "To
see their fatal fine."
Spenser.
Is this the fine of his
fines?
Shak. 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. Spelman.
(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. Burrill. -- 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. Burrill. See
Concord, n., 4. -- In fine, in conclusion; by way of termination or summing up.
Fine , v. t. [imp. & p. p. Fined (fīnd); p. pr. & vb. n. Fining.]
[From Fine, a.] 1. To make fine;
to refine; to purify, to
clarify; as, to fine gold.
It hath been fined and refined by . . . learned men.
Hobbes.
2. To make finer, or less coarse, as in
bulk, texture, etc.; as. to fine the soil. L. H. Bailey.
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.
Browning.
Fine (fīn),
a. [Compar. Finer (?); superl.
Finest.]
[F. fin,
LL. finus fine, pure,
fr. L. finire to finish; cf. finitus, p. p., finished, completed (hence the sense accomplished, perfect.) See Finish, and cf. Finite.] 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.
Prov. iii. 14. A cup of wine that's brisk
and fine.
Shak. Not only the finest gentleman of his time, but
one of the
finest scholars.
Felton. To soothe the
sick bed of
so fine a being [Keats].
Leigh Hunt. 2.
Aiming at show or effect; loaded with ornament; overdressed or overdecorated; showy.
He gratified
them with occasional . . . fine
writing.
M.
Arnold. 3. Nice; delicate; subtle; exquisite; artful; skillful; dexterous.
The spider's
touch, how exquisitely fine!
Pope. The
nicest and most delicate touches of satire consist in fine raillery.
Dryden.
He has as fine a
hand at picking a pocket as a woman.
T. Gray. 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.
Bacon.
(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.
Shak. &fist;
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. Knight. -- 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.
McElrath. -- 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.
Syn. -- 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.
Hear it pronounced