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.

He gratified them with occasional . . . fine writing. M. Arnold.

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.

Ye have made a fine hand, fellows. Shak.

* 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. 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.

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.

(b) (Eng. Law)