as in imposing
to establish or apply as a charge or penalty
the police will fine you for driving with one headlight out
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as in filtering
to remove usually visible impurities from
the use of egg shells to fine wine
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Recent Examples of fining
Sharon Bernstein, Sacbee.com, 1 Apr. 2026
The board ended up fining every mayor who joined the program, Ed Koch and David Dinkins and Rudy Giuliani and Bill de Blasio and Eric Adams.
—New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 30 Mar. 2026
That’s not only because judges are fining more lawyers for their laziness, but because the publicity about these embarrassments has been inescapable.
—Business Columnist, Los Angeles Times, 27 Mar. 2026
After learning some defendants were sitting in Colorado jails for years, the federal government began fining the state $12 million a year.
—Shaun Boyd, CBS News, 27 Mar. 2026
The city has been fining him ever since.
—Amanda Rosa, Miami Herald, 28 Feb. 2026
The city's cart retrieval program, which was formalized in October, can charge stores as much as $50 per cart returned to them, though Republican state lawmakers are looking to stop Arizona cities from fining businesses for the service.
—N'dea Yancey-Bragg, USA Today, 22 Feb. 2026
Apple Music introduced fraud penalties back in 2022, where along with demonetizing the illegitimate streams themselves, the company employed a sliding scale of fining fraudsters a fee calculated on what would’ve been royalties.
—Ethan Millman, HollywoodReporter, 30 Jan. 2026
In response to the San Bruno tragedy, the California Public Utilities Commission, which is investigating the latest explosion, began fining gas companies and utilities for violating state and federal gas safety rules.
—Ethan Varian, Mercury News, 16 Jan. 2026
Verb
Increasingly, judges are opting to sanction lawyers who submit briefs tainted by AI errors, Moylan said, sometimes fining those who refuse to admit wrongdoing or referring them to their state’s bar association for disciplinary actions.
—Sharon Bernstein, Sacbee.com, 1 Apr. 2026
The board ended up fining every mayor who joined the program, Ed Koch and David Dinkins and Rudy Giuliani and Bill de Blasio and Eric Adams.
—New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 30 Mar. 2026
That’s not only because judges are fining more lawyers for their laziness, but because the publicity about these embarrassments has been inescapable.
—Business Columnist, Los Angeles Times, 27 Mar. 2026
After learning some defendants were sitting in Colorado jails for years, the federal government began fining the state $12 million a year.
—Shaun Boyd, CBS News, 27 Mar. 2026
The city has been fining him ever since.
—Amanda Rosa, Miami Herald, 28 Feb. 2026
The city's cart retrieval program, which was formalized in October, can charge stores as much as $50 per cart returned to them, though Republican state lawmakers are looking to stop Arizona cities from fining businesses for the service.
—N'dea Yancey-Bragg, USA Today, 22 Feb. 2026
Apple Music introduced fraud penalties back in 2022, where along with demonetizing the illegitimate streams themselves, the company employed a sliding scale of fining fraudsters a fee calculated on what would’ve been royalties.
—Ethan Millman, HollywoodReporter, 30 Jan. 2026
In response to the San Bruno tragedy, the California Public Utilities Commission, which is investigating the latest explosion, began fining gas companies and utilities for violating state and federal gas safety rules.
—Ethan Varian, Mercury News, 16 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Fining.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fining. Accessed 8 Apr. 2026.
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