Fine \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.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
 

Fine \Fine\ (f[imac]n), 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.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
 

Fine \Fine\, 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.

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. --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.

Usage: 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.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
 

Fine \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.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
 

Fine \Fine\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Fined; 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.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
 

Fine \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.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
 

Fine \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.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
 

Fine \Fine\, v. t. & i. [OF. finer, F. finir. See Finish, v. t.]

To finish; to cease; or to cause to cease. [Obs.]

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)