English

Verb

sharpening

1. present participle of sharpen

Noun

sharpening ‎(plural sharpenings)

1. The act by which something is sharpened.
   • 1970, Heinrich Wölfflin, Drawings of Albrecht Dürer (page 4)

     There are flourishes and coloratura passages in this art, heightenings and sharpenings of the line that serve only to give the needy linear system a value of its own in confrontation with nature.

2. (in the plural) The debris produced when a pencil is sharpened.