sharpen

English

Etymology

From Middle English scharpenen, scharpnen, equivalent to sharp +‎ -en.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈʃɑɹpən/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈʃɑːpən/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)pən

Verb

sharpen (third-person singular simple present sharpens, present participle sharpening, simple past and past participle sharpened)

1. (transitive, sometimes figurative) To make sharp.

   to sharpen a pencil or a knife or a musical note

   • 1790 November, Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France, and on the Proceedings in Certain Societies in London Relative to that Event. , London: J Dodsley, , →OCLC:

     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.

2. (intransitive) To become sharp.

Synonyms

• hone (figurative sense)
• whet

Antonyms

• blunt
• blur

Derived terms

Translations

Anagrams

• Hapners, pherans