sharp
Part of speech: adj
adv
verb
Morphological type: simple
Topics: board-games
chess
entertainment
games
human-sciences
lifestyle
linguistics
mathematics
music
phonetics
phonology
sciences
Etymology: From Middle English scharp, from Old English sċearp, from Proto-West Germanic *skarp, from Proto-Germanic *skarpaz, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kerb-, from *(s)ker- (“to cut”).
Cognate with West Frisian skerp, Low German scherp, scharp, schaarp, Dutch scherp, German scharf, Danish skarp. Compare Irish cearb (“keen; cutting”), Latin acerbus (“tart, bitter”), Tocharian B kärpye (“rough”), Latvian skârbs (“sharp, rough”), Russian щерба (ščerba, “notch”), Polish szczerba (“gap, dent, jag, chip, nick, notch”), Albanian harb (“rudeness”). More at shear.
Inflected forms:
form: sharper
pos: adj
tags: comparative
form: sharpest
pos: adj
tags: superlative
form: sharper
pos: adv
tags: comparative
form: sharpest
pos: adv
tags: superlative
form: sharps
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: sharping
pos: verb
tags: participle
present
form: sharped
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
form: sharped
pos: verb
tags: past
Senses:
gloss: Terminating in a point or edge, especially one that can cut or pierce easily; not dull, obtuse, or rounded.
pos: adj
examples: I keep my knives sharp so that they don't slip unexpectedly while carving.
Ernest made the pencil too sharp and accidentally stabbed himself with it.
a face with sharp features
Orion hit a rabbit once; but though sore wounded it got to the bury, and, struggling in, the arrow caught the side of the hole and was drawn out. Indeed, a nail filed sharp is not of much avail as an arrowhead; you must have it barbed, and that was a little beyond our skill.
If a knife which is sharp is incorrectly used it will obviously be dangerous.
Fifteen children reported handling curvos, five machetes, and one a sharp knife used to cut yellow leaves off the banana plants.
Yet, review of 25 years of English language literature on the subject of sharp force injury adds remarkably little to this topic. Sharp force covers a vast array of injuries produced with sharp objects capable of cutting or stabbing or both.
gloss: Intelligent.
pos: adj
tags: colloquial
examples: My nephew is a sharp lad; he can count to 100 in six languages, and he's only five years old.
At school, despite his sharp mind, Malcolm was laughed at by teachers when he said he wanted to be a lawyer.
gloss: Raised by one semitone (denoted by the symbol ⟨♯⟩ after the name of the note).
pos: adj
gloss: Higher in pitch than required.
pos: adj
examples: The orchestra's third violin several times was sharp about an eighth of a tone.
gloss: Having a strong acrid or acidic taste.
pos: adj
examples: Milly couldn't stand sharp cheeses when she was pregnant, because they made her nauseated.
This grapefruit is especially sharp.
gloss: Sudden, abrupt, intense, rapid.
pos: adj
examples: A pregnant woman during labor normally experiences a number of sharp contractions.
The man turned and made a sharp movement towards the door.
She wakened in sharp panic, bewildered by the grotesquerie of some half-remembered dream in contrast with the harshness of inclement fact, […]
gloss: Illegal or dishonest.
pos: adj
tags: colloquial
examples: Michael had a number of sharp ventures that he kept off the books.
gloss: Keenly or unduly attentive to one's own interests; shrewd, verging on dishonest.
pos: adj
tags: colloquial
examples: a sharp dealer, a sharp customer, sharp practice
But, as they have hitherto stood, a clergyman established in a competent living is not under the necessity of being so sharp, vigilant, and exacting.
gloss: Exact, precise, accurate; keen.
pos: adj
examples: You'll need sharp aim to make that shot.
Not long ago, it was difficult to produce photographs of tiny creatures with every part in focus.[…]A photo processing technique called focus stacking has changed that. Developed as a tool to electronically combine the sharpest bits of multiple digital images, focus stacking is a boon to biologists seeking full focus on a micron scale.
gloss: Offensive, critical, or acrimonious; stern or harsh.
pos: adj
examples: sharp criticism
When the two rivals met, first there were sharp words, and then a fight broke out.
The reviews have ranged from excellent (In Touch, Jan 76, and Gay Literature, Winter 76) to qualified praise (GCN, 6 Mar 76) to sharp attack (Allen Young in the current Gay Liberator; Allen calls it trivial and misogynist.
gloss: Stylish, smart or attractive.
pos: adj
tags: colloquial
examples: You look so sharp in that tuxedo!
A sharp dresser partial to snakeskin shoes whose miniature Australian shepherd dog Saatchi is a constant fixture on family outings, [Donald] Tang's next move was to reinvent himself as a dealmaker connecting China with Hollywood amid growing demand for entertainment content in both countries.
gloss: Observant; alert; acute.
pos: adj
examples: Keep a sharp watch on the prisoners. I don't want them to escape!
gloss: Quick and alert.
pos: adj
examples: Jones, the centre forward, made a sharp start to the game.
gloss: Strongly distinguishing or differentiating; acute.
pos: adj
examples: a sharp contrast, a sharp distinction
gloss: Forming a small or tight angle; especially, forming an angle of less than ninety degrees.
pos: adj
examples: Drive down Main for three quarters of a mile, then make a sharp right turn onto Pine.
a sharp turn or curve
The street down which Warwick had come intersected Front Street at a sharp angle in front of the old hotel, forming a sort of flatiron block at the junction, known as Liberty Point
gloss: Steep; precipitous; abrupt.
pos: adj
examples: a sharp ascent or descent
gloss: Said of as extreme a value as possible.
pos: adj
examples: Sure, any planar graph can be five-colored. But that result is not sharp: in fact, any planar graph can be four-colored. That is sharp: the same can't be said for any lower number.
gloss: Tactical; risky.
pos: adj
examples: Time and time again, the amateur player has lost the opportunity to make the really best move because he felt bound to follow some chess "rule" he had learned, rather than to make the sharp move which was indicated by the position.
In such situations most chess players choose the obvious and logical way: they go in for sharp play. However, not everyone is a natural attacking player[…]
gloss: Piercing; keen; severe; painful.
pos: adj
examples: a sharp pain; the sharp and frosty winter air
Sharp misery had worn him to the bones.
The night was Winter in his roughest mood; the morning sharp and clear.
In sharpest perils faithful proved, Let his soul love thee to the end.
gloss: Eager or keen in pursuit; impatient for gratification.
pos: adj
examples: a sharp appetite
gloss: Fierce; ardent; fiery; violent; impetuous.
pos: adj
tags: obsolete
examples: And fear of God, from whom their piety feign'd In sharp contest of battle found no aid Against invaders
A sharp assault already is begun;
gloss: Composed of hard, angular grains; gritty.
pos: adj
examples: Well-burnt good lime and sharp sand, if very sharp, a load of sand (about 36 bushels) to a hundred of lime (being 25 bushels, or a hundred pecks[…]
gloss: Uttered in a whisper, or with the breath alone; aspirated; unvoiced.
pos: adj
tags: dated
gloss: Hungry.
pos: adj
tags: obsolete
examples: “[W]hy this last week we ha'n't had nothing at all but some dry musty red herrings; so you may think, Miss, we're kept pretty sharp!”
“[…] It’s child’s play to find the stuff now. I’ve half a mind to dine first.”
“I don’t feel sharp,” growled Morgan.
gloss: In a sharp manner: a less usual alternative to sharply in certain senses.
pos: adv
gloss: In a sharp manner: a less usual alternative to sharply in certain senses.
pos: adv
examples: The iron plates rang sharp, but turn'd the spear
gloss: In a sharp manner: a less usual alternative to sharply in certain senses.
pos: adv
examples: You bite so sharp at reasons.
gloss: In a sharp manner: a less usual alternative to sharply in certain senses.
pos: adv
examples: South of the city the river turns sharp to the east.
sharp left, sharp right
gloss: Exactly.
pos: adv
tags: not-comparable
examples: I'll see you at twelve o'clock sharp.
gloss: In a higher pitch than is correct or desirable.
pos: adv
examples: I didn't enjoy the concert much because the soprano sang sharp on all the high notes.
1867, Dutton Cook, Hobson's Choice, Chapter 8, “Music Hath Charms”, p. 72 https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Hobson_s_Choice/hwhhEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22Matilda+Milner+frequently+sang+sharp%22&pg=PA72&printsec=frontcover
Whereas Matilda Milner frequently sang sharp, in spite of the efforts of Miss Brown, who played the accompaniment, to give her the right note and keep her in tune.
gloss: To raise the pitch of a note half a step making a natural note a sharp.
pos: verb
examples: That new musician must be tone deaf: he sharped half the notes of the song!
gloss: To play tricks in bargaining; to act the sharper.
pos: verb
examples: he made a shift yet to pick up a Sorry Living upon the Rook ; and not by Sharping alone , but now and then by downright Stealing
gloss: To sharpen.
pos: verb
tags: obsolete
transitive
Synonyms: on the dot
precisely
Antonyms: blunt
dull
dim
dim-witted
slow
slow-witted
thick
flat
bland
insipid
tasteless
above-board
honest
legit
legitimate
reputable
inaccurate
imprecise
complimentary
flattering
friendly
kind
nice
inelegant
scruffy
shabby
unobservant
Related words: sharp-sharp
Derived words: battle-sharp
besharp
better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick
bittersharp
dagger-sharp
demisharp
laser-sharp
look sharp
needle-sharp
nonsharp
not the sharpest knife in the drawer
not the sharpest pencil in the box
outsharp
oversharp
pin-sharp
razor sharp
scary sharp
sharp as a bowling ball
sharp as a butter knife
sharp as a tack
sharp-beaked ground finch
sharpbill
sharp cedar
sharpchin
sharp cookie
sharp-cornered
sharp-edged
sharp-elbowed
sharp elbows
sharp end
sharp end of one's tongue
sharpfin
Sharpie
sharpish
sharpling
sharply
sharpness
sharp-nosed
sharp-pointed
sharp power
sharp practice
sharp rush
sharp s
sharp sand
sharp-set
sharp-shinned hawk
sharp-shod
sharpshooting
sharp short-lived head pain
sharp-sighted
sharp-sightedness
sharpster
sharptail
sharptailed
sharp-tailed grouse
sharp-tailed sandpiper
sharp-tailed sparrow
sharp-tailed streamcreeper
sharp tongue
sharp-tongued
sharptooth
sharp-toothed
sharp-witted
shebang
short sharp shock
supersharp
ultrasharp
unsharp
Wuyi sharp-nosed frog
brace sharp
Translations: