Link Centre Dictionary

sharpen

shar·pen

UK/ˈʃɑːpən/ US/ˈʃɑɹpən/ uncommon

verb

1.

make sharp or sharper

  • “sharpen the knives”
Antonyms
2.

make sharp or sharper

  • “We had to sharpen our arguments”
3.

become sharp or sharper

  • “The debate sharpened”
4.

put (an image) into focus

  • “Please focus the image; we cannot enjoy the movie”
Synonyms
Antonyms
5.

make (images or sounds) sharp or sharper

Antonyms
6.

raise the pitch of (musical notes)

Antonyms
7.

give a point to

  • “The candles are tapered”
Synonyms
8.

make (one''s senses) more acute

  • “This drug will sharpen your vision”
Synonyms

Origin

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

Phrases

  • sharpen up

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Narrower terms

See also

Causes

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.