| Sharpen 1. (v.) To make sharp. 2. (v.) To give a keen edge or fine point to; to make sharper; as, to sharpen an ax, or the teeth of a saw. 3. (v.) To render more quick or acute in perception; to make more ready or ingenious. 4. (v.) To make more eager; as, to sharpen men's desires. 5. (v.) To make more pungent and intense; as, to sharpen a pain or disease. 6. (v.) To make biting, sarcastic, or severe. 7. (v.) To render more shrill or piercing. 8. (v.) To make more tart or acid; to make sour; as, the rays of the sun sharpen vinegar. 9. (v.) To raise, as a sound, by means of a sharp; to apply a sharp to. 10. (v. i.) To grow or become sharp. Thesaurus Entries accelerate, aculeate, acuminate, agent provocateur, aggravate, amplify, animate, annoy, augment, barb, beef up, blow up, build up, complicate, concentrate, condense, consolidate, cultivate, cuspidate, deepen, deteriorate, double, dress, edge, embitter, enhance, enlarge, enliven, exacerbate, exaggerate, exasperate, excite, exhilarate, file, fillip, galvanize, grind, heat up, heighten, hone, hop up, hot up, increase, infuse life into, instrument, intensify, invigorate, irritate, jazz up, key up, machine, magnify, make acute, make complex, make sensitive, make worse, mechanize, mill, motorize, oilstone, pick up, pique, point, provoke, quicken, ramify, redouble, refine, reinforce, renew, reset, resuscitate, retool, revive, sensibilize, sensitize, set, sharp, soup up, sour, spiculate, spur, step up, stimulate, stir, strap, strengthen, stroke, strop, taper, tool, triple, whet, worsen |