an unstable construction with playing cards; "he built three levels of his cardcastle before it collapsed"
a speculative scheme that depends on unstable factors that the planner cannot control; "his proposal was nothing but a house of cards"; "a real estate bubble"
sparing in consumption of especially food and drink; "the pleasures of the table, never of much consequence to one naturally abstemious"- John Galsworthy
marked by temperance in indulgence; "abstemious with the use of adverbs"; "a light eater"; "a light smoker"; "ate a light supper"
impossible or difficult to perceive by the mind or senses; "an imperceptible drop in temperature"; "an imperceptible nod"; "color is unperceivable to the touch"
soften, usually by steeping in liquid, and cause to disintegrate as a result; "macerate peaches"; "the gizzards macerates the food in the digestive system"
become soft or separate and disintegrate as a result of excessive soaking; "the tissue macerated in the water"
characterized by elegance or refinement or accomplishment; "fine wine"; "looking fine in her Easter suit"; "a fine gentleman"; "fine china and crystal"; "a fine violinist"; "the fine hand of a master"
minutely precise especially in differences in meaning; "a fine distinction"
free from impurities; having a high or specified degree of purity; "gold 21 carats fine"
of textures that are smooth to the touch or substances consisting of relatively small particles; "wood with a fine grain"; "fine powdery snow"; "fine rain"; "batiste is a cotton fabric with a fine weave"; "covered with a fine film of dust"
thin in thickness or diameter; "a fine film of oil"; "fine hairs"; "read the fine print"
highly seasoned Mediterranean soup or stew made of several kinds of fish and shellfish with tomatoes and onions or leeks and seasoned with saffron and garlic and herbs
(of language) transparently clear; easily understandable; "writes in a limpid style"; "lucid directions"; "a luculent oration"- Robert Burton; "pellucid prose"; "a crystal clear explanation"; "a perspicuous argument"
repeated too often; overfamiliar through overuse; "bromidic sermons"; "his remarks were trite and commonplace"; "hackneyed phrases"; "a stock answer"; "repeating threadbare jokes"; "parroting some timeworn axiom"; "the trite metaphor `hard as nails'"