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.
{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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Men fined for the king's good will; or that he
would remit his anger; women fined for leave to
marry. --Hallam.