FINE

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.

Aiming at show or effect; loaded with ornament; overdressed or overdecorated; showy. He gratified them with occasional . . . fine writing. M. Arnold.

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.

Not coarse, gross, or heavy; as:

Not gross; subtile; thin; tenous. The eye standeth in the finer medium and the object in the grosser. Bacon.

Not coarse; comminuted; in small particles; as, fine sand or flour.

Not thick or heavy; slender; filmy; as, a fine thread.

Thin; attenuate; keen; as, a fine edge.

Made of fine materials; light; delicate; as, fine linen or silk.

Having (such) a proportion of pure metal in its composition; as, coins nine tenths fine.

To make fine; to refine; to purify, to clarify; as, to fine gold. It hath been fined and refined by . . . learned men. Hobbes.

To make finer, or less coarse, as in bulk, texture, etc.; as. to fine the soil. L. H. Bailey.

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.

End; conclusion; termination; extinction. [Obs.] "To see their fatal fine." Spenser. Is this the fine of his fines Shak.

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.

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.

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.

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