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Webster 1913 Edition
Sharpen
Sharp′en
,Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Sarpened
; p. pr. & vb. n.
Sharpening
.] [See ]
Sharp
, Adj.
To make sharp.
Specifically: (a)
To give a keen edge or fine point to; to make sharper;
as, to
. sharpen
an ax, or the teeth of a saw(b)
To render more quick or acute in perception; to make more ready or ingenious.
The air . . .
To objects distant far.
sharpened
his visual rayTo objects distant far.
Milton.
He that wrestles with us strengthens our nerves and
sharpens
our skill. Burke.
(c)
To make more eager;
as, to
. sharpen
men’s desiresEpicurean cooks
Sharpen
with cloyless sauce his appetite. Shakespeare
(d)
To make more pungent and intense;
as, to
. sharpen
a pain or disease(e)
To make biting, sarcastic, or severe.
“Sharpen each word.” E. Smith.
(f)
To render more shrill or piercing.
Inclosures not only preserve sound, but increase and
sharpen
it. Bacon.
(g)
To make more tart or acid; to make sour;
as, the rays of the sun
. sharpen
vinegar(h)
(Mus.)
To raise, as a sound, by means of a sharp; to apply a sharp to.
Sharp′en
,Verb.
I.
To grow or become sharp.
Webster 1828 Edition
Sharpen
SHARPEN
,Verb.
T.
1. To make sharp; to give a keen edge or a fine point to a thing; to edge; to point; as, to sharpen a knife, an ax or the teeth of a saw; to sharpen a sword.
All of the Israelites went down to the Philistines to sharpen every man his share and his coulter, and his ax and his mattock. 1 Sam. 8.
2. To make more eager or active; as, to sharpen the edge of industry.
3. To make more pungent and painful. The abuse of wealth and greatness may hereafter sharpen the sting of conscience.
4. To make more quick, acute or ingenious. The wit or the intellect is sharpened by study.
5. To render perception more quick or acute.
Th' air sharpen'd his visual ray
To objects distant far. Milton.
6. To render more keen; to make more eager for food or for any gratification; as, to sharpen the appetite; to sharpen a desire.
7. To make biting, sarcastic or severe. Sharpen each word.
8. To render less flat, or more shrill or piercing.
Inclosures not only preserve sound, but increase and sharpen it. Bacon.
9. To make more tart or acid; to make sour; as, the rays of the sun sharpen vinegar.
10. To make more distressing; as, to sharpen grief or other evis.
11. In music, to raise a sound by means of a sharp.
Definition 2024
sharpen
sharpen
English
Verb
sharpen (third-person singular simple present sharpens, present participle sharpening, simple past and past participle sharpened)
- (transitive, sometimes figuratively) To make sharp
- to sharpen a pencil or a knife
- Edmund Burke (1729-1797)
- He that wrestles with us strengthens our nerves and sharpens our skill.
- 2013 July 26, Leo Hickman, “How algorithms rule the world”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 7, page 26:
- The use of algorithms in policing is one example of their increasing influence on our lives. […] who, if anyone, is policing their use. Such concerns were sharpened further by the continuing revelations about how the US National Security Agency (NSA) has been using algorithms to help it interpret the colossal amounts of data it has collected from its covert dragnet of international telecommunications.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Derived terms
Translations
to make sharp
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