hone

1 to make sharp or sharper honed the knife's blade to razor-like sharpness honed his crossword-puzzle skills by reading the dictionary as though it were a thrilling novel Synonyms edge, grind, sharpen, stone, strop, whetRelated Words fileNear Antonyms buff, burnish, gloss, polish, round, smoothAntonyms blunt, dull

2 to make smooth by friction honed the edge of the axe until it was amazingly sharp Synonyms buff, file, grind, rasp, rub, sandRelated Words plane, scrape; sandblast, scour; burnish, dress, gloss, polish, shine, smooth; edge, grind, sharpen, strop, whet; regrindNear Antonyms coarsen, rough (up), roughen, scuff