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# sharpen

«sharpen» in Mova's school dictionary: **to make its edge or point sharper, like sharpening a…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 4 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

verb (sharpen, sharpens, sharpened, sharpening)

### meaning for a pupil

1) To sharpen something is to make its edge or point sharper, like sharpening a pencil or a knife. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sharpen/#m1)

2) To sharpen a skill is to make it better by practice. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sharpen/#m2)

3) When a picture, sound or feeling sharpens, it becomes clearer or stronger. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sharpen/#m3)

### sense in the lessons

At school children sharpen pencils with a sharpener; in the kitchen adults sharpen knives (a safety job for grown-ups). Teachers say «sharpen your maths skills» or «sharpen your mind». Phrases: «sharpen a pencil», «sharpen up», «pencil sharpener».

### examples

- Please sharpen your pencil before the test. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sharpen/#x1)
- Dad sharpens the kitchen knives on a stone. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sharpen/#x2)
- Practising every day will sharpen your spelling. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sharpen/#x3)
- The eagle's eyes are sharp; it doesn't need to sharpen them! [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sharpen/#x4)
- The picture sharpened when I turned the lens. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sharpen/#x5)
- I need to sharpen my coloured pencils. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sharpen/#x6)
- Quiz games help sharpen your memory. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sharpen/#x7)
- The beaver sharpened the end of the stick with its teeth. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sharpen/#x8)
- Then he sat down and began sharpening his knife again. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sharpen/#x9)

### note

Regular verb: past «sharpened». It comes from sharp + -en, which means «make more». The tool is a «sharpener». Safety: only adults should sharpen knives, and a sharpened knife cuts more easily, so handle it with care.

### In the corpora

- [Small AI programs hide in everyday things, such as phone cameras that sharpen photos and blur backgrounds.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/ai/1-what-is-ai/13/)
- [Staying calm helps you think; panic does not sharpen your focus.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/51-sats-the-reading-paper/15/)
- [They have sharpened their tongue like a serpent; vipers' venom is under their lips.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/jps/PSA.2555/)
- [Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/jps/PRO.794/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «sharpen» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sharpen/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.