Sharp-cut to Shear
Sharp-cut
(Sharp-cut`) a. Cut sharply or definitely, or so as to make a clear, well-defined impression, as
the lines of an engraved plate, and the like; clear-cut; hence, having great distinctness; well-defined; clear.
Sharpen
(Sharp"en) v. t. [imp. & p. p. Sarpened ; p. pr. & vb. n. Sharpening.] [See Sharp, a.]
To make sharp. Specifically: (a) To give a keen edge or fine point to; to make sharper; as, to sharpen
an ax, or the teeth of a saw. (b) 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. (c) To make more eager; as, to sharpen men's desires.
Epicurean cooks
Sharpen with cloyless sauce his appetite.
Shak. (d) To make more pungent and intense; as, to sharpen a pain or disease. (e) To make biting, sarcastic,
or severe. "Sharpen each word." E. Smith. (f) To render more shrill or piercing.
Inclosures not only preserve sound, but increase and sharpen it.
Bacon. (g) To make more tart or acid; to make sour; as, the rays of the sun sharpen vinegar. (h) (Mus.) To
raise, as a sound, by means of a sharp; to apply a sharp to.
Sharpen
(Sharp"en), v. i. To grow or become sharp.
Sharper
(Sharp"er) n. A person who bargains closely, especially, one who cheats in bargains; a swinder; also,
a cheating gamester.
Sharpers, as pikes, prey upon their own kind.
L'Estrange. Syn. — Swindler; cheat; deceiver; trickster; rogue. See Swindler.
Sharpie
(Sharp"ie) n. (Naut.) A long, sharp, flat-bottomed boat, with one or two masts carrying a triangular
sail. They are often called Fair Haven sharpies, after the place on the coast of Connecticut where they
originated. [Local, U.S.]
Sharpling
(Sharp"ling) n. (Zoöl.) A stickleback. [Prov. Eng.]
Sharply
(Sharp"ly), adv. In a sharp manner,; keenly; acutely.
They are more sharply to be chastised and reformed than the rude Irish.
Spenser.
The soldiers were sharply assailed with wants.
Hayward.
You contract your eye when you would see sharply.
Bacon. Sharpness
(Sharp"ness), n. [AS. scearpness.] The quality or condition of being sharp; keenness; acuteness.
Sharpsaw
(Sharp"saw`) n. (Zoöl.) The great titmouse; — so called from its harsh call notes. [Prov. Eng.]
Sharp-set
(Sharp"-set`) a. Eager in appetite or desire of gratification; affected by keen hunger; ravenous; as,
an eagle or a lion sharp-set.
The town is sharp-set on new plays.
Pope. Sharpshooter
(Sharp"shoot`er) n. One skilled in shooting at an object with exactness; a good marksman.
