fine - What does it mean?

Adjective

(er)

(lb) Of subjective quality.

#Of superior quality.

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#*:"A fine man, that Dunwody, yonder," commented the young captain, as they parted, and as he turned to his prisoner. "We'll see him on in Washington some day. He is strengthening his forces now against Mr. Benton out there.."

#(lb) Being acceptable, adequate, passable, or satisfactory.

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|title=(The Celebrity)|chapter=3 |passage=Now all this was very fine , but not at all in keeping with the Celebrity's character as I had come to conceive it. The idea that adulation ever cloyed on him was ludicrous in itself. In fact I thought the whole story fishy, and came very near to saying so.}}

#(lb) Good-looking, attractive.

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#*|chapter=10

|title= The Mirror and the Lamp |passage=It was a joy to snatch some brief respite, and find himself in the rectory drawing–room. Listening here was as pleasant as talking; just to watch was pleasant. The young priests who lived here wore cassocks and birettas; their faces were fine and mild, yet really strong, like the rector's face; and in their intercourse with him and his wife they seemed to be brothers.}}

#Subtle, delicately balanced.

#*The Independent

#*:The fine distinction between lender of last resort and a bail-out

#(lb) Showy; overdecorated.

#*(Matthew Arnold) (1822-1888)

#*:He gratified them with occasionalfine writing.

#Delicate; subtle; exquisite; artful; dexterous.

#*(Alexander Pope) (1688-1744)

#*:The spider's touch, how exquisitely fine !

#*(John Dryden) (1631-1700)

#*:The nicest and most delicate touches of satire consist in fine raillery.

#*(Thomas Gray) (1716-1771)

#*:He has as fine a hand at picking a pocket as a woman.

(lb) Of objective quality.

#Of a particular grade of quality, usually between very good'' and ''very fine'', and below ''mint .

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#(lb) Sunny and not raining.

#*|chapter=23

|title= The Mirror and the Lamp |passage=If the afternoon was fine they strolled together in the park, very slowly, and with pauses to draw breath wherever the ground sloped upward. The slightest effort made the patient cough.}}

#Consisting of especially minute particulate; made up of particularly small pieces.

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#Particularly slender; especially thin, narrow, or of small girth.

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#Made of slender or thin filaments.

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#Having a (specified) proportion of pure metal in its composition.

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(lb) Behind the batsman and at a small angle to the line between the wickets.

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(lb) Subtle; thin; tenuous.

*(Francis Bacon) (1561-1626)

*:The eye standeth in the finer medium and the object in the grosser.