sharpener

sharpener

See also: Sharpener

English

Etymology

sharpen +‎ -er

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈʃɑː(ɹ)pənə(ɹ)/

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Noun

sharpener (plural sharpeners)

1. A device for making things sharp.

   There was a pencil sharpener at the front of the classroom.

2. (figuratively) That which makes something sharp.
   • 1795, Hannah More, The Shepherd of Salisbury Plain

     “Sir,” said the shepherd, “poverty is a great sharpener of the wits. […]

   • 1872, Chambers's miscellany of instructive & entertaining tracts

     The snuff-box, knife, and chicken-bones were again in requisition, and a pen was successfully formed. The ink, or at least its substitute, was rather more difficult, but necessity is always a sharpener of intellect, and even this was accomplished.

3. (informal) An alcoholic drink taken at the start of the day, or just before a meal.

Derived terms

• pencil sharpener

Related terms

• sharp

Translations

device for making things sharp

Arabic: please add this translation if you can Armenian: please add this translation if you can Assamese: জোঙালী (züṅali) Basque: please add this translation if you can Bulgarian: острилка f (ostrilka) Chinese: 磨削器 Dutch: slijper (nl) m Esperanto: akrigilo, pintigilo Finnish: teroitin French: affûteuse (fr) f, aiguiseur (fr) m Galician: chaira (gl) f, aguzadoira (gl) f Georgian: სათლელი (satleli) German: Spitzer (de) m Greek: Ancient: ὀξυντήρ m (oxuntḗr) Hebrew: מְחַדֵּד‎ (he) m (mekhadéd) Hungarian: hegyező (hu), élesítő, élező, szerszámélező, fenőkő (hu) Italian: affilatrice f Japanese: とぎ器 Khmer: ប្រដាប់សំរួច (prɑɑdapsɑmruəc) Korean: 가는 기구 (ganeun gigu) Kurdish: Northern Kurdish: tûjker (ku) f, qelemtiraş (ku) Ladino: aguzador m Polish: temperówka (pl) f, strugaczka (pl) f Portuguese: apontador (pt), amolador (pt) m Romanian: ascuțitor (ro) Russian: заточник (ru) m (zatočnik) (zatochnik) Slovene: šilček (sl) Spanish: sacapuntas (es) m Tagalog: pantasa Thai: please add this translation if you can Turkish: please add this translation if you can Vietnamese: thợ mài dao kéo

Anagrams

• resharpen