Chapter 18

Fi"na*tive (?), a. Conclusive; decisive; definitive; final. [Obs.] Greene (1593).

Fin"back` (?), n. (Zoˆl.) Any whale of the genera Sibbaldius, BalÊnoptera, and allied genera, of the family BalÊnopteridÊ, characterized by a prominent fin on the back. The common finbacks of the New England coast are Sibbaldius tectirostris and S. tuberosus.

Finch (fnch), n.; pl. Finches (-z). [AS. finc; akin to D. vink, OHG. fincho, G. fink; cf. W. pinc a finch; also E. spink.] (Zoˆl.) A small singing bird of many genera and species, belonging to the family FringillidÊ.

The word is often used in composition, as in chaffinch, goldfinch, grassfinch, pinefinch, etc.

Bramble finch. See Brambling. -- Canary finch, the canary bird. -- Copper finch. See Chaffinch. -- Diamond finch. See under Diamond. - - Finch falcon (Zoˆl.), one of several very small East Indian falcons of the genus Hierax. -- To pull a finch, to swindle an ignorant or unsuspecting person. [Obs.] "Privily a finch eke could he pull." Chaucer.

Finch"backed` (?), a. Streaked or spotted on the back; -- said of cattle.

Finched (?), a. Same as Finchbacked.

Find (fnd), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Found (found); p. pr. & vb. n. Finding.] [AS. findan; akin to D. vinden, OS. & OHG. findan, G. finden, Dan. finde, icel. & Sw. finna, Goth. fin˛an; and perh. to L. petere to seek, Gr. pi`ptein to fall, Skr. pat to fall, fly, E. petition.] 1. To meet with, or light upon, accidentally; to gain the first sight or knowledge of, as of something new, or unknown; hence, to fall in with, as a person.

Searching the window for a flint, I found This paper, thus sealed up.

Shak.

In woods and forests thou art found.

Cowley.

2. To learn by experience or trial; to perceive; to experience; to discover by the intellect or the feelings; to detect; to feel. "I find you passing gentle." Shak.

The torrid zone is now found habitable.

Cowley.

3. To come upon by seeking; as, to find something lost. (a) To discover by sounding; as, to find bottom. (b) To discover by study or experiment direct to an object or end; as, water is found to be a compound substance. (c) To gain, as the object of desire or effort; as, to find leisure; to find means. (d) To attain to; to arrive at; to acquire.

Seek, and ye shall find.

Matt. vii. 7.

Every mountain now hath found a tongue.

Byron.

4. To provide for; to supply; to furnish; as, to find food for workemen; he finds his nephew in money.

Wages £14 and all found.

London Times.

Nothing a day and find yourself.

Dickens.

5. To arrive at, as a conclusion; to determine as true; to establish; as, to find a verdict; to find a true bill (of indictment) against an accused person.

To find his title with some shows of truth.

Shak.

To find out, to detect (a thief); to discover (a secret) -- to solve or unriddle (a parable or enigma); to understand. "Canst thou by searching find out God?" Job. xi. 7. "We do hope to find out all your tricks." Milton. -- To find fault with, to blame; to censure. -- To find one's self, to be; to fare; -- often used in speaking of health; as, how do you find yourself this morning?

Find (?), v. i. (Law) To determine an issue of fact, and to declare such a determination to a court; as, the jury find for the plaintiff. Burrill.

Find, n. Anything found; a discovery of anything valuable; especially, a deposit, discovered by archÊologists, of objects of prehistoric or unknown origin.

Find"a*ble (?), a. Capable of being found; discoverable. Fuller.

Find"er (?), n. One who, or that which, finds; specifically (Astron.), a small telescope of low power and large field of view, attached to a larger telescope, for the purpose of finding an object more readily.

Find"fault` (?), n. A censurer or caviler. [Obs.]

Find"fault`ing, a. Apt to censure or cavil; faultfinding; captious. [Obs.] Whitlock.

Find"ing, n. 1. That which is found, come upon, or provided; esp. (pl.), that which a journeyman artisan finds or provides for himself; as tools, trimmings, etc.

When a man hath been laboring . . . in the deep mines of knowledge, hath furnished out his findings in all their equipage.

Milton.

2. Support; maintenance; that which is provided for one; expence; provision.

3. (Law) The result of a judicial examination or inquiry, especially into some matter of fact; a verdict; as, the finding of a jury. Burrill.

After his friends finding and his rent.

Chaucer.

Fin"dy (?), a. [AS. finding heavy; cf. Dan. fyndig strong, energetical, fynd strength, energy, emphasis.] Full; heavy; firm; solid; substantial. [Obs.]

A cold May and a windy Makes the barn fat amd findy.

Old Proverb.

Fine (fn), 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.

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.

2. Aiming at show or effect; loaded with ornament; overdressed or overdecorated; showy.

He gratified them with occasional . . . fine writing.

M. Arnold.

3. Nice; delicate; subtle; exquisite; artful; skillful; dexterous.

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.

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

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.

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

6. (Used ironically.)

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.

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Fine, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Fined (fnd); p. pr. & vb. n. Fining.] [From Fine, a.] 1. To make fine; to refine; to purify, to clarify; as, to fine gold.

It hath been fined and refined by . . . learned men.

Hobbes.

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

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

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

Browning.

Fine (?), 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.

Is this the fine of his fines?

Shak.

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.

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.

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.

Fine, 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.

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

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

Hallam.

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

Fine"draw` (?), 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.

Fine"draw`er (?), n. One who finedraws.

Fine"drawn` (?), a. Drawn out with too much subtilty; overnice; as, finedrawn speculations.

Fi*neer" (?), 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.

Fi*neer", v. t. To veneer.

Fine"less (?), a. [Fine end + -less.] Endless; boundless. [Obs.] Shak.

Fine"ly, adv. In a fine or finished manner.

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

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

The fineness of the gold, and chargeful fashion.

Shak.

3. The proportion of pure silver or gold in jewelry, bullion, or coins.

The fineness of United States coin is nine tenths, that of English gold coin is eleven twelfths, and that of English silver coin is .

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

Fin"er (?), n. One who fines or purifies.

Fin"er*y (?), n. 1. Fineness; beauty. [Obs.]

Don't choose your place of study by the finery of the prospects.

I. Watts.

2. Ornament; decoration; especially, excecially decoration; showy clothes; jewels.

Her mistress' cast-off finery.

F. W. Robertson.

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.

Fine"spun` (?), a. Spun so as to be fine; drawn to a fine thread; attenuated; hence, unsubstantial; visionary; as, finespun theories.

Fi`nesse" (? or ?), n. [F., fr. fin fine. See Fine, a.] 1. Subtilty of contrivance to gain a point; artifice; stratagem.

This is the artificialest piece of finesse to persuade men into slavery.

Milton.

2. (Whist Playing) The act of finessing. See Finesse, v. i., 2.

Fi*nesse" (?), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Finessed (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Finessing.] 1. To use artifice or stratagem. Goldsmith.

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.

Fine"still` (?), v. t. To distill, as spirit from molasses or some saccharine preparation.

Fine"still`er (?), n. One who finestills.

Fin"ew (?), n. [See Fenowed.] Moldiness. [R.]

Fin"fish` (?), n. (Zoˆl.) (a) A finback whale. (b) (pl.) True fish, as distinguished from shellfish.

Fin"foot` (?), n. (Zoˆl.) A South American bird (Heliornis fulica) allied to the grebes. The name is also applied to several related species of the genus Podica.

Fin"-foot`ed, a. (Zoˆl.) (a) Having palmate feet. (b) Having lobate toes, as the coot and grebe.

Fin"ger (f"gr), n. [AS. finger; akin to D. vinger, OS. & OHG. fingar, G. finger, Icel. fingr, Sw. & Dan. finger, Goth. figgrs; of unknown origin; perh. akin to E. fang.] 1. One of the five terminating members of the hand; a digit; esp., one of the four extremities of the hand, other than the thumb.

2. Anything that does the work of a finger; as, the pointer of a clock, watch, or other registering machine; especially (Mech.) a small projecting rod, wire, or piece, which is brought into contact with an object to effect, direct, or restrain a motion.

3. The breadth of a finger, or the fourth part of the hand; a measure of nearly an inch; also, the length of finger, a measure in domestic use in the United States, of about four and a half inches or one eighth of a yard.

A piece of steel three fingers thick.

Bp. Wilkins.

4. Skill in the use of the fingers, as in playing upon a musical instrument. [R.]

She has a good finger.

Busby.

Ear finger, the little finger. -- Finger alphabet. See Dactylology. - - Finger bar, the horizontal bar, carrying slotted spikes, or fingers, through which the vibratory knives of mowing and reaping machines play. -- Finger board (Mus.), the part of a stringed instrument against which the fingers press the strings to vary the tone; the keyboard of a piano, organ, etc.; manual. -- Finger bowl or glass, a bowl or glass to hold water for rinsing the fingers at table. -- Finger flower (Bot.), the foxglove. -- Finger grass (Bot.), a kind of grass (Panicum sanguinale) with slender radiating spikes; common crab grass. See Crab grass, under Crab. -- Finger nut, a fly nut or thumb nut. -- Finger plate, a strip of metal, glass, etc., to protect a painted or polished door from finger marks. -- Finger post, a guide post bearing an index finger. -- Finger reading, reading printed in relief so as to be sensible to the touch; -- so made for the blind. -- Finger shell (Zoˆl.), a marine shell (Pholas dactylus) resembling a finger in form. -- Finger sponge (Zoˆl.), a sponge having finger-shaped lobes, or branches. -- Finger stall, a cover or shield for a finger. -- Finger steel, a steel instrument for whetting a currier's knife.

To burn one's fingers. See under Burn. -- To have a finger in, to be concerned in. [Colloq.] -- To have at one's fingers' ends, to be thoroughly familiar with. [Colloq.]

Fin"ger (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Fingered (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Fingering.] 1. To touch with the fingers; to handle; to meddle with.

Let the papers lie; You would be fingering them to anger me.

Shak.

2. To touch lightly; to toy with.

3. (Mus.) (a) To perform on an instrument of music. (b) To mark the notes of (a piece of music) so as to guide the fingers in playing.

4. To take thievishly; to pilfer; to purloin. Shak.

5. To execute, as any delicate work.

Fin"ger, v. i. (Mus.) To use the fingers in playing on an instrument. Busby.

Fin"gered (?), a. 1. Having fingers.

2. (Bot.) Having leaflets like fingers; digitate.

3. (Mus.) Marked with figures designating which finger should be used for each note.

Fin"ger*er (?), n. One who fingers; a pilferer.

Fin"ger*ing, n. 1. The act or process of handling or touching with the fingers.

The mere sight and fingering of money.

Grew.

2. The manner of using the fingers in playing or striking the keys of an instrument of music; movement or management of the fingers in playing on a musical instrument, in typewriting, etc.

3. The marking of the notes of a piece of music to guide or regulate the action or use of the fingers.

4. Delicate work made with the fingers. Spenser.

Fin"ger*ling (?), n. [Finger + -ling.] (Zoˆl.) A young salmon. See Parr.

Fin"gle-fan`gle (?), n. [From fangle.] A trifle. [Low] Hudibras.

||Fin"gri*go (?), n.; pl. Fingrigos (#). [So called in Jamaica.] (Bot.) ||A prickly, climbing shrub of the genus Pisonia. The fruit is a kind ||of berry.

Fin"i*al (?), n. [L. finire to finish, end. See Finish.] (Arch.) The knot or bunch of foliage, or foliated ornament, that forms the upper extremity of a pinnacle in Gothic architecture; sometimes, the pinnacle itself.

Fin"i*cal (?), a. [From Fine, a.] Affectedly fine; overnice; unduly particular; fastidious. "Finical taste." Wordsworth.

The gross style consists in giving no detail, the finical in giving nothing else.

Hazlitt.

Syn. -- Finical, Spruce, Foppish. These words are applied to persons who are studiously desirous to cultivate finery of appearance. One who is spruce is elaborately nice in dress; one who is finical shows his affectation in language and manner as well as in dress; one who is foppish distinguishes himself by going to the extreme of the fashion in the cut of his clothes, by the tawdriness of his ornaments, and by the ostentation of his manner. "A finical gentleman clips his words and screws his body into as small a compass as possible, to give himself the air of a delicate person; a spruce gentleman strives not to have a fold wrong in his frill or cravat, nor a hair of his head to lie amiss; a foppish gentleman seeks . . . to render himself distinguished for finery." Crabb.

-- Fin"i*cal*ly, adv. -- Fin"i*cal*ness, n.

Fin`i*cal"i*ty (?), n. The quality of being finical; finicalness.

{ Fin"ick*ing (?), Fin"ick*y, a. } Finical; unduly particular. [Colloq.]

Fi*nif"ic (? or ?), n. [L. finis end + facere to make.] A limiting element or quality. [R.]

The essential finific in the form of the finite.

Coleridge.

Fin"i*fy (? or ?), v. t. [Fine, a. + -fy.] To make fine; to dress finically. [Obs.]

Hath so pared and finified them [his feet.]

B. Jonson.

Fin"i*kin (?), a. [Fine, a. + -kin.] Precise in trifles; idly busy. [Colloq.] Smart.

Fin"ing (?), n. 1. The act of imposing a fin&?;.

2. The process of fining or refining; clarification; also (Metal.), the conversion of cast iron into suitable for puddling, in a hearth or charcoal fire.

3. That which is used to refine; especially, a preparation of isinglass, gelatin, etc., for clarifying beer.

Fining pot, a vessel in which metals are refined. Prov. xvii. 3.

||Fi"nis (?), n. [L.] An end; conclusion. It is often placed at the end ||of a book.

Fin"ish (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Finished (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Finishing.] [F. finir (with a stem finiss- in several forms, whence E. -ish: see -ish.),fr. L. finire to limit, finish, end, fr. finis boundary, limit, end; perh. for fidnis, and akin findere to cleave, E. fissure.] 1. To arrive at the end of; to bring to an end; to put an end to; to make an end of; to terminate.

And heroically hath finished A life heroic.

Milton.

2. To bestow the last required labor upon; to complete; to bestow the utmost possible labor upon; to perfect; to accomplish; to polish.

Syn. -- To end; terminate; close; conclude; complete; accomplish; perfect.

Fin"ish, v. i. 1. To come to an end; to terminate.

His days may finish ere that hapless time.

Shak.

2. To end; to die. [R.] Shak.

Fin"ish, n. 1. That which finishes, puts an end to&?; or perfects.

2. (Arch.) The joiner work and other finer work required for the completion of a building, especially of the interior. See Inside finish, and Outside finish.

3. (Fine Arts) (a) The labor required to give final completion to any work; hence, minute detail, careful elaboration, or the like. (b) See Finishing coat, under Finishing.

4. The result of completed labor, as on the surface of an object; manner or style of finishing; as, a rough, dead, or glossy finish given to cloth, stone, metal, etc.

5. Completion; -- opposed to start, or beginning.

Fin"ished (?), a. Polished to the highest degree of excellence; complete; perfect; as, a finished poem; a finished education.

Finished work (Mach.), work that is made smooth or polished, though not necessarily completed.

Fin"ish*er (?), n. 1. One who finishes, puts an end to, completes, or perfects; esp. used in the trades, as in hatting, weaving, etc., for the workman who gives a finishing touch to the work, or any part of it, and brings it to perfection.

O prophet of glad tidings, finisher Of utmost hope!

Milton.

2. Something that gives the finishing touch to, or settles, anything. [Colloq.]

Fin"ish*ing, n. The act or process of completing or perfecting; the final work upon or ornamentation of a thing.

Fin"ish*ing, a. Tending to complete or to render fit for the market or for use.

Finishing coat. (a) (Plastering) the final coat of plastering applied to walls and ceilings, usually white and rubbed smooth. (b) (Painting) The final coat of paint, usually differently mixed applied from the others. -- Finishing press, a machine for pressing fabrics. -- Finishing rolls (Iron Working), the rolls of a train which receive the bar from roughing rolls, and reduce it to its finished shape. Raymond.

Fi"nite (?), a. [L. finitus, p. p. of finire. See Finish, and cf. Fine, a.] Having a limit; limited in quantity, degree, or capacity; bounded; -- opposed to infinite; as, finite number; finite existence; a finite being; a finite mind; finite duration.

Fi"nite*less, a. Infinite. [Obs.] Sir T. browne.

Fi"nite*ly, adv. In a finite manner or degree.

Fi"nite*ness, n. The state of being finite.

Fin"i*tude (?), n. [L. finire. See Finish.] Limitation. Cheyne.

Fin"land*er (?), n. A native or inhabitant of Finland.

Fin"less, a. (Zoˆl.) destitute of fins.

Fin"let (?), n. [Fin + - let.] A little fin; one of the parts of a divided fin.

Fin"like` (?), a. Resembling a fin.

Finn (?), a. A native of Finland; one of the Finn&?; in the ethnological sense. See Finns.

Fin"nan had"die (?). [See Haddock.] Haddock cured in peat smoke, originally at Findon (pron. fn"an), Scotland. the name is also applied to other kinds of smoked haddock. [Written also finnan haddock.]

Finned (?), a. Having a fin, or fins, or anything resembling a fin. Mortimer.

Fin"ner (?), n. (Zoˆl.) A finback whale.

Finn"ic (?), a. Of or pertaining to the Finns.

Fin"ni*kin (?), n. (Zoˆl.) A variety of pigeon, with a crest somewhat resembling the mane of a horse. [Written also finikin.]

Finn"ish (?), a. Of or pertaining to Finland, to the Finns, or to their language. -- n. A Northern Turanian group of languages; the language of the Finns.

Finns (?), n. pl.; sing. Finn. (Ethnol.) (a) Natives of Finland; Finlanders. (b) A branch of the Mongolian race, inhabiting Northern and Eastern Europe, including the Magyars, Bulgarians, Permians, Lapps, and Finlanders. [Written also Fins.]

Fin"ny (?), a. 1. (Zoˆl.) Having, or abounding in, fins, as fishes; pertaining to fishes.

2. Abounding in fishes.

With patient angle trolls the finny deep.

Goldsmoth.

||Fi*no"chi*o (?; 277), n. [It. finocchio fennel, LL. fenuclum. See ||Fennel.] (Bot.) An umbelliferous plant (Fúniculum dulce) having a ||somewhat tuberous stem; sweet fennel. The blanched stems are used in ||France and Italy as a culinary vegetable.

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||Fi"nos (?), n. pl. [Sp., pl., fr. fino fine.] Second best wool from ||Merino sheep. Gardner.

Fin"pike` (?), n. (Zoˆl.) The bichir. See Crossopterygii.

Fint (?), 3d pers. sing. pr. of Find, for findeth. [Obs.] Chaucer.

Fin"-toed` (?), a. (Zoˆl.) Having toes connected by a membrane; palmiped; palmated; also, lobate.