The Collaborative International Dictionary
fine \fine\ (f[imac]n), a. [Compar. finer (f[imac]n"[~e]r); 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.]
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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:
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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.
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Having (such) a proportion of pure metal in its composition; as, coins nine tenths fine.
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(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.
Usage examples of "fine cut".
A dark blue woolen dress of fine cut marked her a merchant as much as did the leather folder she carried for her bills of lading or the guild pin over one breast, a silver quill pen.
Between the four main tentpoles, long trestle tables groaning with food and drink stood about the colorful carpets that had been laid for a floor, and there were people everywhere, Cairhienin nobles in their finery, a few soldiers with the fronts of their heads shaved and powdered, plainly men of high rank by the fine cut of their coats.
He did make an impressive sight, and there was no austerity about his tunic of fine cut, nor about his jewelry, his rings and pendants and pins.
Lan was exchanging his cloak of shifting grays and greens for one of dark brown, more ordinary, though of fine cut and weave.
Dressed in dark clothes of a fine cut, he seemed in the prime of his maturity, and Rand supposed women would have found him good-looking.
He looked again at his drinking companion, noticing the fine cut of his coat and the excellent white silk of his neckcloth.
The emir had cluttered his desk with a number of objects: a crystal ball useless because of our own jamming, a fine cut glass bowl looted from somebody's house, a set of nice crystal wineglasses, a cigar humidor of quartz glass, a decanter full of what looked like good Scotch.
The emir had cluttered his desk with a number of objects: a crystal ball useless because of our own jamming, a fine cut -glass bowl looted from somebody's house, a set of nice crystal wineglasses, a cigar humidor of quartz glass, a decanter full of what looked like good Scotch.