to become less, as in size or proportions; reduce; diminish (often followed by down): The plumpness fines down with exercise.
verb (used with object)
25.
to make fine or finer, especially by refining or pulverizing.
26.
to reduce the size or proportions of (often used with down or away): to fine down the heavy features; to fine away superfluous matter in a design.
27.
to clarify (wines or spirits) by filtration.
noun
28.
fines,
a.
Mining. crushed ore sufficiently fine to pass through a given screen. Compare short(def. 29e).
b.
Agriculture. the fine bits of corn kernel knocked off during handling of the grain.
Idiom
29.
cut fine, to calculate precisely, especially without allowing for possible error or accident: To finish in ten minutes is to cut it too fine.
Origin: 1250–1300; Middle English fin < Anglo-French, Old French < Latin fīnis end, utmost limit, highest point
Synonyms 1. finished, consummate, perfect; select. Fine,choice,elegant,exquisite are terms of praise with reference to quality. Fine is a general term: a fine horse, person, book. Choice implies a discriminating selection of the object in question: a choice piece of steak. Elegant suggests a refined and graceful superiority that is generally associated with luxury and a cultivated taste: elegant furnishings. Exquisite suggests an admirable delicacy, finish, or perfection: an exquisite piece of lace. 3. powdered, pulverized. 5. acute.
c.1200, "termination," from O.Fr. fin "end," from M.L. finis "a payment in settlement, fine or tax," from L. finis "end" (see finish). Modern meaning is via sense of "sum of money paid for exemption from punishment or to compensate for injury" (mid-14c., from the same sense
in Anglo-Fr., late 13c.) and from phrases such as to make fine "make one's peace, settle a matter" (c.1300). Meaning "sum of money imposed as penalty for some offense" is first recorded 1520s. The verb (c.1300) originally meant "pay as a ransom or penalty;" inverted meaning "to punish by a fine" is from 1550s. Related: Fined; fining.