Part 305

2. Precisely; exactly; as, we shall start at ten o'clock sharp. [Colloq.]

Look sharp, attend; be alert. [Colloq.]

Sharp, n. 1. A sharp tool or weapon. [Obs.]

If butchers had but the manners to go to sharps, gentlemen would be contented with a rubber at cuffs.

Collier.

2. (Mus.) (a) The character [] used to indicate that the note before which it is placed is to be raised a half step, or semitone, in pitch. (b) A sharp tone or note. Shak.

3. A portion of a stream where the water runs very rapidly. [Prov. Eng.] C. Kingsley.

4. A sewing needle having a very slender point; a needle of the most pointed of the three grades, blunts, betweens, and sharps.

5. pl. Same as Middlings, 1.

6. An expert. [Slang]

Sharp, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Sharped (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Sharping.] 1. To sharpen. [Obs.] Spenser.

2. (Mus.) To raise above the proper pitch; to elevate the tone of; especially, to raise a half step, or semitone, above the natural tone.

Sharp, v. i. 1. To play tricks in bargaining; to act the sharper. L'Estrange.

2. (Mus.) To sing above the proper pitch.

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.

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.

Sharp"en, v. i. To grow or become sharp.