Crossword clues for sharpen
sharpen
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Sharpen \Sharp"en\, v. i. To grow or become sharp.
Sharpen \Sharp"en\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Sarpened; p. pr. & vb. n. Sharpening.] [See Sharp, a.] To make sharp. Specifically:
To give a keen edge or fine point to; to make sharper; as, to sharpen an ax, or the teeth of a saw.
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To render more quick or acute in perception; to make more ready or ingenious.
The air . . . sharpened his visual ray To objects distant far.
--Milton.He that wrestles with us strengthens our nerves and sharpens our skill.
--Burke. -
To make more eager; as, to sharpen men's desires.
Epicurean cooks Sharpen with cloyless sauce his appetite.
--Shak. To make more pungent and intense; as, to sharpen a pain or disease.
To make biting, sarcastic, or severe. ``Sharpen each word.''
--E. Smith.-
To render more shrill or piercing.
Inclosures not only preserve sound, but increase and sharpen it.
--Bacon. To make more tart or acid; to make sour; as, the rays of the sun sharpen vinegar.
(Mus.) To raise, as a sound, by means of a sharp; to apply a sharp to.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
1520s, "bring to an edge or point," from sharp (adj.) + -en (1). Related: Sharpened; sharpening. Old English verb scearpian meant "to score, scarify;" also compare scearpung "scarifying." To sharpen (one's) pencil "prepare to get to work" is from 1957, American English.
Wiktionary
vb. (context transitive sometimes figurative English) To make sharp
WordNet
v. make sharp or sharper; "sharpen the knives" [ant: dull]
make sharp or sharper; "We had to sharpen our arguments"
become sharp or sharper; "The debate sharpened"
put (an image) into focus; "Please focus the image; we cannot enjoy the movie" [syn: focus, focalize, focalise] [ant: blur]
make (images or sounds) sharp or sharper [ant: soften]
raise the pitch of (musical notes) [ant: flatten]
give a point to; "The candles are tapered" [syn: taper, point]
make (one's senses) more acute; "This drug will sharpen your vision" [syn: heighten]
Wikipedia
Sharpen is an Eclipse plug-in useful for multiplatform code development, having the ability to convert from one language to another. Sharpen can convert Java to C# and vice versa. It can be used also to develop Java code with the most recent JDK, as Sharpen can convert between the Java dialects.
If the converted code does not run properly, the user has to remove parts that does not compile, but a better way is to modify methods that do not compile to do their calls by reflection. This would avoid hard links to functionality that does not exist.
It is desirable that Sharpen creates a Java source code version of the backport, to allow debugging on the respective platforms.
Usage examples of "sharpen".
The armorers worked in shifts through the day and night, repairing armor, sharpening swords, making the turnip-shaped arrowheads that screamed so dreadfully to affright an enemy.
Pretending to be setting an example, Prairie slid over to one of the work counters, wrestled a hot baloney into place, quickly sharpened a knife, and began to carve the object into steaming, purple-rimmed slices, which she arranged attractively on a serving platter, generously spooning more shiny grape liquid over the top, to be carried in and set on one of the mess-hall tables, where eaters would serve themselves except for the people in assertiveness programs, of course, who sat over at their own table and each got a separate plate with the food already on it.
Considering she had managed to conquer an initial squeamishness at the sight of blood, she felt oddly disturbed at the prospect of some wild creature dying, impaled on one of those barbless, sharpened shafts.
Sharpened stakes were stuck in the sides of the ramparts, so that the compound bristled, like some great hedgehog of wood and mud.
What with all the hammering, sharpening, burnishing and polishing, we might have been such a city of smiths as Bran the Blessed encountered in one of his fabled journeys.
That particular talent had manifested two years ago, and Mero had sharpened it with practice.
And the day goes on and on, getting worse and worse you mislay your exercise-book, you drop your arithmetic in the mud, your pencil breaks, and when you open your knife to sharpen the pencil you split your nail.
But his penknife was a tiny thing, suitable for sharpening quills and cutting paper, not to doing battle with monstrous stone dogs.
Name, as the enigmatic Phiz continues, in the weak light, to sharpen toward Revelation.
It had coated the travertine flowstone like poured polyurethane, sharpening the delicate oranges, greens and reds of the original mineral salts into a crystalline riot of color.
Sandbags lined the top of the container, the cloth sacks bristling with deadly pungi sticks made from sharpened bamboo.
His feet will turn to desert places Shadowless, reft of rain and dew, Where stars stare down with sharpened faces From heavens pitilessly blue.
These included: plain choppers, sharpened choppers, pointed choppers, and retouchers, which were used to resharpen the working edges of other stone implements.
With the barest thought, he magically added another six feet to his chain and created another sharpened weight for the end in his hand.
He nimbly dodged any who came close enough to strike, and he sank sharpened weights into the bodies of those who broke or avoided the collars.