*fine*

a. [ OF. afiné related, p. p., fr. LL. affinare to join, fr. L. affinis neighboring, related to; ad + finis boundary, limit. ] Joined in affinity or by any tie. [ Obs. ] “All affined and kin.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The quality of being chuffy. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Confined p. pr. & vb. n. Confining. ] [ F. confiner to border upon, LL. confinare to set bounds to; con- + finis boundary, end. See Final, Finish. ] To restrain within limits; to restrict; to limit; to bound; to shut up; to inclose; to keep close. [ 1913 Webster ]

Now let not nature's hand
Keep the wild flood confined! let order die! Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

He is to confine himself to the compass of numbers and the slavery of rhyme. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

To be confined, to be in childbed.

Syn. -- To bound; limit; restrain; imprison; immure; inclose; circumscribe; restrict. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To have a common boundary; to border; to lie contiguous; to touch; -- followed by on or with. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Where your gloomy bounds
Confine with heaven. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

Bewixt heaven and earth and skies there stands a place.
Confining on all three. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. Common boundary; border; limit; -- used chiefly in the plural. [ 1913 Webster ]

Events that came to pass within the confines of Judea. Locke. [ 1913 Webster ]

And now in little space
The confines met of empyrean heaven,
And of this world. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

On the confines of the city and the Temple. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Apartment; place of restraint; prison. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Confines, wards, and dungeons. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

The extravagant and erring spirit hies
To his confine. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. 1. having movement restricted to within a certain area; -- usually a building. Opposite of unconfined. [ Narrower terms: claustrophobic; close, confining; homebound, housebound, shut-in; in childbed(prenominal); pent, shut up(predicate); snowbound; weather-bound; stormbound, storm-bound ] [ WordNet 1.5 ]

2. deprived of liberty; especially placed under arrest or restraint. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

3. having movement restricted to within an enclosed outdoor area; -- of animals.
Syn. -- fenced in, penned. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

4. (Med.) not invading healthy tissue. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

5. held prisoner.
Syn. -- captive, imprisoned, jailed. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

6. having movement or progress restricted to a certain area; as, an outbreak of the plague confined to one quarter of the city; wildfires confined to within the canyon. [ PJC ]

a. Without limitation or end; boundless. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. Restraint within limits; imprisonment; any restraint of liberty; seclusion. [ 1913 Webster ]

The mind hates restraint, and is apt to fancy itself under confinement when the sight is pent up. Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Restraint within doors by sickness, esp. that caused by childbirth; lying-in. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who, or that which, limits or restrains. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who lives on confines, or near the border of a country; a borderer; a near neighbor. [ Obs. ] Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

Happy confiners you of other lands,
That shift your soil, and oft 'scape tyrants' hands. Daniel. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Defined p. pr. & vb. n. Defining. ] [ OE. definer, usually, to end, to finish, F. définir to define, L. definire to limit, define; de- + finire to limit, end, finis boundary, limit, end. See Final, Finish. ] 1. To fix the bounds of; to bring to a termination; to end. “To define controversies.” Barrow. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To determine or clearly exhibit the boundaries of; to mark the limits of; as, to define the extent of a kingdom or country. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To determine with precision; to mark out with distinctness; to ascertain or exhibit clearly; as, the defining power of an optical instrument. [ 1913 Webster ]

Rings . . . very distinct and well defined. Sir I. Newton. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To determine the precise signification of; to fix the meaning of; to describe accurately; to explain; to expound or interpret; as, to define a word, a phrase, or a scientific term. [ 1913 Webster ]

They define virtue to be life ordered according to nature. Robynson (More's Utopia). [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To determine; to decide. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The act of defining; definition; description. [ Obs. ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who defines or explains. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To define. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

It hath been fined and refined by . . . learned men. Hobbes. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To make finer, or less coarse, as in bulk, texture, etc.; as. to fine the soil. L. H. Bailey. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To change by fine gradations; as (Naut.), to fine down a ship's lines, to diminish her lines gradually. [ 1913 Webster ]

I often sate at home
On evenings, watching how they fined themselves
With gradual conscience to a perfect night. Browning. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

Is this the fine of his fines? Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To pay a fine. See Fine, n., 3 (b). [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Men fined for the king's good will; or that he would remit his anger; women fined for leave to marry. Hallam. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. & i. [ OF. finer, F. finir. See Finish, v. t. ] To finish; to cease; or to cause to cease. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. 1. Finely; well; elegantly; fully; delicately; mincingly. [ Obs., Dial., or Colloq. ] [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

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. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

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. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

The gain thereof [ is better ] than fine gold. Prov. iii. 14. [ 1913 Webster ]

A cup of wine that's brisk and fine. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Not only the finest gentleman of his time, but one of the finest scholars. Felton. [ 1913 Webster ]

To soothe the sick bed of so fine a being [ Keats ]. Leigh Hunt. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Aiming at show or effect; loaded with ornament; overdressed or overdecorated; showy. [ 1913 Webster ]

He gratified them with occasional . . . fine writing. M. Arnold. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Nice; delicate; subtle; exquisite; artful; skillful; dexterous. [ 1913 Webster ]

The spider's touch, how exquisitely fine! Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

The nicest and most delicate touches of satire consist in fine raillery. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

He has as fine a hand at picking a pocket as a woman. T. Gray. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Not coarse, gross, or heavy; as: (a) Not gross; subtile; thin; tenous. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. Having (such) a proportion of pure metal in its composition; as, coins nine tenths fine. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. (Used ironically.) [ 1913 Webster ]

Ye have made a fine hand, fellows. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ Fine is often compounded with participles and adjectives, modifying them adverbially; a, fine-drawn, fine-featured, fine-grained, fine-spoken, fine-spun, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. liable to a fine.
Syn. -- finable. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

adj. subjected to punishment by a fine.
Syn. -- mulcted. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Finedrawn p. pr. & vb. n. Finedrawing. ] To sew up, so nicely that the seam is not perceived; to renter. Marryat. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who finedraws. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Drawn out with too much subtilty; overnice; as, finedrawn speculations. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To run in debt by getting goods made up in a way unsuitable for the use of others, and then threatening not to take them except on credit. [ R. ] Goldsmith. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To veneer. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. 1. consisting of fine particles.
Syn. -- powdered, powdery, pulverized, small-grained. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

2. dense or compact in structure or texture, as a wood composed of small-diameter cells.
Syn. -- close-grained. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

3. involving careful consideration of details and fine distinctions; -- of conceptual schemas; as, fine-grained distinctions.
Syn. -- detailed. [ PJC ]

a. [ Fine end + -less. ] Endless; boundless. [ Obs. ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. pleasing in appearance especially by reason of conformity to ideals of form and proportion; as, a fine-looking woman.[ Narrower terms: beautiful (vs. ugly) ]
Syn. -- good-looking, better-looking, handsome, well-favored, well-favoured. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

adv. In a fine or finished manner. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ From Fine, a. ] 1. The quality or condition of being fine. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Freedom from foreign matter or alloy; clearness; purity; as, the fineness of liquor. [ 1913 Webster ]

The fineness of the gold, and chargeful fashion. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. The proportion of pure silver or gold in jewelry, bullion, or coins. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ The fineness of United States coin is nine tenths, that of English gold coin is eleven twelfths, and that of English silver coin is 925/1000. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Keenness or sharpness; as, the fineness of a needle's point, or of the edge of a blade. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who fines or purifies. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. Fineness; beauty. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Don't choose your place of study by the finery of the prospects. I. Watts. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Ornament; decoration; especially, excecially decoration; showy clothes; jewels. [ 1913 Webster ]

Her mistress' cast-off finery. F. W. Robertson. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. [ Cf. Refinery. ] (Iron Works) A charcoal hearth or furnace for the conversion of cast iron into wrought iron, or into iron suitable for puddling. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Spun so as to be fine; drawn to a fine thread; attenuated; hence, unsubstantial; visionary; as, finespun theories. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F., fr. fin fine. See Fine, a. ] 1. Subtilty of contrivance to gain a point; artifice; stratagem. [ 1913 Webster ]

This is the artificialest piece of finesse to persuade men into slavery. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Whist Playing) The act of finessing. See Finesse, v. i., 2. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Finessed p. pr. & vb. n. Finessing. ] 1. To use artifice or stratagem. Goldsmith. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Whist Playing) To attempt, when second or third player, to make a lower card answer the purpose of a higher, when an intermediate card is out, risking the chance of its being held by the opponent yet to play. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To distill, as spirit from molasses or some saccharine preparation. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who finestills. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. having fine teeth set close together; as, a fine-tooth comb. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

v. t. to adjust carefully and precisely so as to achieve optimum performance or efficiency; as, The mechanic fine-tuned the engine. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ See Fenowed. ] Moldiness. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The state of being huffish; petulance; bad temper. Ld. Lytton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The state of being leafy. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A dish for keeping muffins hot. [ 1913 Webster ]