Word family noun sharpener sharpness sharp adjective sharp verb sharpen adverb sharp sharply sharpish
From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishsharpensharp‧en /ˈʃɑːpən $ ˈʃɑːr-/ ●○○ verb 1 [intransitive, transitive]SHARP to make something have a sharper edge or point, or to become sharper Anne sharpened her pencil and got out her homework.2 [transitive]INCREASE IN ACTIVITY, FEELINGS ETC to make a feeling stronger and more urgent A series of attacks have sharpened fears of more violence.3 [transitive] (also sharpen something ↔ up) to improve something so that it is up to the necessary standard, quality etc The course will help students sharpen their writing skills.→ See Verb tableExamples from the Corpus
sharpen• Sharpen all your pencils before the test.• Below 200 K the chains are virtually immobile, but above 200 K the lines sharpen as rotation begins.• In the dying light other songbirds sharpen calls and phrases, some learned in far places, other continents.• Nick sat down at his desk, sharpened his pencil and began to draw.• Knock it senseless every hour when it raised its fanged head and decided to sharpen its nasty little claws.• My mother used a special stone to sharpen kitchen knives.• The images sharpened on screen as the camera focused.• Recent developments have given our leaders a sharpened sense of responsibility.• It wasn't electric, and they never sharpened the barbed wire at the top.• The resulting increase in production should sharpen the instructional focus of the materials.• A brief moon between clouds outside sharpened the lines of boxwood that led to the wooden gate.• This course will give students a chance to sharpen their problem-solving skills.• At San Quentin, Kirkpatrick stabbed one of his lawyers 17 times with a sharpened toothbrush. 