| English Dictionary |
FINE
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
| IPA (US): |  |
Dictionary entry overview: What does fine mean?
• FINE (noun)
The noun FINE has 1 sense:
1. money extracted as a penalty
Familiarity information: FINE used as a noun is very rare.
• FINE (adjective)
The adjective FINE has 6 senses:
1. being satisfactory or in satisfactory condition
2. minutely precise especially in differences in meaning
3. thin in thickness or diameter
4. characterized by elegance or refinement or accomplishment
5. of textures that are smooth to the touch or substances consisting of relatively small particles
6. free from impurities; having a high or specified degree of purity
Familiarity information: FINE used as an adjective is common.
• FINE (verb)
The verb FINE has 1 sense:
1. issue a ticket or a fine to as a penalty
Familiarity information: FINE used as a verb is very rare.
• FINE (adverb)
The adverb FINE has 2 senses:
1. an expression of agreement normally occurring at the beginning of a sentence
2. in a delicate manner
Familiarity information: FINE used as an adverb is rare.
Dictionary entry details
Sense 1
Meaning:
Money extracted as a penalty
Classified under:
Nouns denoting possession and transfer of possession
Synonyms:
amercement; fine; mulct
Hypernyms ("fine" is a kind of...):
penalty (a payment required for not fulfilling a contract)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "fine"):
library fine (fine imposed by a library on books that overdue when returned)
Derivation:
fine (issue a ticket or a fine to as a penalty)
| Declension: comparative and superlative |
Superlative: finest
Sense 1
Meaning:
Being satisfactory or in satisfactory condition
Synonyms:
all right; cool; fine; hunky-dory; o.k.; ok; okay
Context example:
another minute I'd have been fine
Similar:
satisfactory (giving satisfaction)
Domain usage:
colloquialism (a colloquial expression; characteristic of spoken or written communication that seeks to imitate informal speech)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Minutely precise especially in differences in meaning
Context example:
a fine distinction
Similar:
precise (sharply exact or accurate or delimited)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Thin in thickness or diameter
Context example:
read the fine print
Similar:
thin (of relatively small extent from one surface to the opposite or in cross section)
Derivation:
fineness (the property of being very narrow or thin)
Sense 4
Meaning:
Characterized by elegance or refinement or accomplishment
Context example:
the fine hand of a master
Similar:
elegant (refined and tasteful in appearance or behavior or style)
Sense 5
Meaning:
Of textures that are smooth to the touch or substances consisting of relatively small particles
Context example:
covered with a fine film of dust
Similar:
superfine (of extremely fine size or texture)
small (have fine or very small constituent particles)
fine-grained; powdered; powdery; pulverised; pulverized; small-grained (consisting of fine particles)
nongranular (not having granules)
floury (resembling flour in fine powdery texture)
dustlike (as fine and powdery as dust)
close-grained; fine-grained (dense or compact in structure or texture, as a wood composed of small-diameter cells)
Also:
smooth (having a surface free from roughness or bumps or ridges or irregularities)
Attribute:
texture (the feel of a surface or a fabric)
Antonym:
coarse (of textures that are rough to the touch or substances consisting of relatively large particles)
Derivation:
fineness (having a very fine texture)
Sense 6
Meaning:
Free from impurities; having a high or specified degree of purity
Context example:
gold 21 carats fine
Similar:
pure (free of extraneous elements of any kind)
Domain category:
metallurgy (the science and technology of metals)
| Conjugation: |
... he / she / it fines Past simple: fined
Past participle: fined
-ing form: fining
Sense 1
Meaning:
Issue a ticket or a fine to as a penalty
Classified under:
Verbs of political and social activities and events
Synonyms:
fine; ticket
Context example:
Move your car or else you will be ticketed!
Hypernyms (to "fine" is one way to...):
book (record a charge in a police register)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "fine"):
amerce (punish by a fine imposed arbitrarily by the discretion of the court)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s somebody
Derivation:
fine (money extracted as a penalty)
Sense 1
Meaning:
An expression of agreement normally occurring at the beginning of a sentence
Synonyms:
all right; alright; fine; OK; very well
Sense 2
Meaning:
In a delicate manner
Synonyms:
delicately; exquisitely; fine; finely
Context example:
her fine drawn body
Context examples
It would be difficult to name any articles which afford a finer field for inference than a pair of glasses, especially so remarkable a pair as these.
(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
“Rather fine, Watson, is it not?” said he.
(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
His tongue felt dry and large, as though covered with a fine hairy growth, and it tasted bitter in his mouth.
(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)
After all, I thought, it is better and finer to love than to be loved, if it makes something in life so worth while that one is not loath to die for it.
(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)
What a fine thing for our girls!
(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)
“You really are very fine indeed. Let me see it.”
(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
You seem fine with that, even though as a fixed sign, you tend to avoid uprooting yourself.
(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)
You could get the finest girl in the land.
(Martin Eden, by Jack London)
I shall come and see your mother some fine day.
(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)
Tall, fine bust, sloping shoulders; long, graceful neck: olive complexion, dark and clear; noble features; eyes rather like Mr. Rochester's: large and black, and as brilliant as her jewels.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
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