English Dictionary: Fine | by the DICT Development Group |
10 results for Fine | |
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]: | |
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From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: | |
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. | |
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: | |
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. | |
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: | |
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 [bd]ordinary thing of its kind.[b8] 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. | |
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: | |
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. | |
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: | |
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.] [bd]To see their fatal fine.[b8] --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. | |
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: | |
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. | |
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: | |
Fine \Fine\, v. t. & i. [OF. finer, F. finir. See {Finish}, v. t.] To finish; to cease; or to cause to cease. [Obs.] | |
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: | |
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. | |
From Jargon File (4.2.0, 31 JAN 2000) [jargon]: | |
fine adj. [WPI] Good, but not good enough to be {cuspy}. The word `fine' is used elsewhere, of course, but without the implicit comparison to the higher level implied by {cuspy}. |