finesses

Noun

finesse (countable and uncountable, plural finesses)

1. (uncountable) A skill in the handling or manipulation of a situation.
   • It is not impossible that this bold attempt to wrest from this State and Nation, so large and important a frontier territory; with the insidious arts, and unblushing finesse and chicanery, with which the British pretensions have been managed, may yet awaken the American people from their apathy on...1829, Moses Greenleaf, “Grants and Sales of Land”, in A Survey of the State of Maine, in Reference to Its Geographical Features, Statistics and Political Economy, Portland, Me.: Published by Shirley...

   Synonyms:

   finessing, footwork

2. (uncountable) The property of having elegance, grace, refinement, or skill.
   • An Indian known by the name of Silver Heels, from his superior agility, as well as his admirable finesse in the art of war, and who had killed more of the enemy than any one of the tribes in alliance with Great Britain, accidentally came into the fort just before the soldier was to receive his...1791, J[ohn] Long, “Visit Fort George.—Remarkable Instance of Courage in a Mohawk Indian.—Return to England.—Enter into a New Engagement, and Return to Canada, with Merchandise for the Indian...
3. (countable) An adroit maneuver.
   • The first inroads on our laws of incest were made at the instigation, and by the secret management, of some of our "prime nobles," who had either seduced, or married, or pledged themselves to marry a wife's sister; and who wished by this finesse, to escape, at once, public odium and personal...1836, S[ereno] E[dwards] Dwight, “The Law of Incest”, in The Hebrew Wife: Or The Law of Marriage Examined in Relation to the Lawfulness of Polygamy and to the Extent of the Law of Incest, New York...
4. (countable) In bridge, whist, etc.: a technique which allows one to win a trick, usually by playing a card when it is thought that a card that can beat it is held by another player whose turn is over.
   • The Finesse Proper.—When, upon the invite of your partner, you refuse to force with your strongest card, or one of equal strength, you are in the case of the finesse proper. Holding the ace, queen, and ten, and taking with the queen, is a simple finesse; that is, a finesse to the king.1850, “Short Whist: Its System and Science”, in Henry G[eorge] Bohn, editor, The Hand-book of Games: Comprising New or Carefully Revised Treatises on Whist, Piquet, Ecarté, Lansquenet, Boston...

See all 10 meanings of finesse