Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- transitive & intransitive verb To make or become sharp or sharper.
from The Century Dictionary.
- To make sharp or sharper; render more acute, keen, eager, active, intensive, quick, biting, severe, tart, etc.: as, to
sharpen a sword or a knife; to sharpen the appetite; to sharpen vinegar. - In music, same as
sharp , v., 2. - To make something sharp; put a keen edge or sharp point on something.
- To grow or become sharp.
- In music, same as
sharp .
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- transitive verb To give a keen edge or fine point to; to make sharper.
- transitive verb To render more quick or acute in perception; to make more ready or ingenious.
- transitive verb To make more eager.
- transitive verb To make more pungent and intense.
- transitive verb To make biting, sarcastic, or severe.
- transitive verb To render more shrill or piercing.
- transitive verb To make more tart or acid; to make sour.
- transitive verb (Mus.) To raise, as a sound, by means of a sharp; to apply a sharp to.
- intransitive verb To grow or become sharp.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- verb transitive To make
sharp
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- verb make (images or sounds) sharp or sharper
- verb make sharp or sharper
- verb make (one's senses) more acute
- verb make crisp or more crisp and precise
- verb give a point to
- verb put (an image) into focus
- verb become sharp or sharper
- verb raise the pitch of (musical notes)
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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On opposite sides of the country today, the presumptive presidential nominees will once again sharpen their positions on how to manage the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan if elected.
The Early Word: 2 Candidates, 2 Visions for Iraq - The Caucus Blog - NYTimes.com 2008
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On opposite sides of the country today, the presumptive presidential nominees will once again sharpen their positions on how to manage the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan if elected.
The Early Word: 2 Candidates, 2 Visions for Iraq - The Caucus Blog - NYTimes.com 2008
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I asked, feeling my vague dislike for that particular name sharpen up to something dangerously like hatred.
The Prairie Child Arthur Stringer 1912
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I 'sharpen' my hunting knife with a Lansky stone set but I don't with my butcher knives, they're just too long bladed and wear out the stones.
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This site actually tries to "sharpen" the noise and improve the information signal.
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DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: We've really seen the president kind of sharpen his tone this week.
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WHITFIELD: And, and you also hear the argument that as they tried to, you know, kind of sharpen their positions, what they're also doing is sharpening a divide, a divide among Democrats and maybe even Independents?
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And just looking back at the whole situation, I think that it was such a hard time for me, but I - The reason that I felt it was necessary is because it really made me kind of sharpen up and realign.
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The road is slippery on the high ground hard by, and it is debated at Lisselan House whether the farrier of the Dragoon Guards shall not be asked to "sharpen" the shoes of the animals employed there, for no local workman will touch them.
Disturbed Ireland Being the Letters Written During the Winter of 1880-81. Bernard H. Becker
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But there is nothing paradoxical about all this, for the Yogis, while preaching the folly of sense life, and manifesting the teaching in their lives, nevertheless believe in any and all exercises calculated to "sharpen" the Mind, and develop it to a keen state and condition.
A Series of Lessons in Raja Yoga William Walker Atkinson 1897
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