as in grinding
to make sharp or sharper
you need to sharpen your penknife's blade frequently in order to be able to whittle properly
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Recent Examples of sharpening
The campaigns themselves continued sharpening those contrasts after the debate ended.
—
Teresa Liu, Daily News, 8 May 2026
According to Plunge, cold-water immersion triggers norepinephrine, a chemical messenger that delivers a burst of energy while sharpening focus.
—Samantha Agate, Charlotte Observer, 6 May 2026
Kristen Kish shows off her knife-sharpening skills at Studio City Farmers Market on May 3 in Los Angeles.
—Toria Sheffield, PEOPLE, 4 May 2026
Boyle said the focus is on sharpening product assortments and making the brand more approachable through partnerships and targeted categories.
—Alexa Lomonaco, CNBC, 1 May 2026
Minimal nicks can typically be removed by sharpening the blades, but serious damage may necessitate a blade replacement.
—Timothy Dale, Better Homes & Gardens, 1 May 2026
Mercury moves through your 1st House of Identity, sharpening your voice and making your words more direct than usual.
—Tarot.com, New York Daily News, 1 May 2026
In 2018, Ganni appointed Andrea Baldo as CEO, taking over from Nicolaj, and helped scale the label into an international business, growing its retail network and sharpening its brand identity.
—Maliha Shoaib, Vogue, 27 Apr. 2026
What emerges is a platform less interested in scale than in sharpening its own profile.
—Emiliano De Pablos, Variety, 23 Apr. 2026
Teresa Liu, Daily News, 8 May 2026
According to Plunge, cold-water immersion triggers norepinephrine, a chemical messenger that delivers a burst of energy while sharpening focus.
—Samantha Agate, Charlotte Observer, 6 May 2026
Kristen Kish shows off her knife-sharpening skills at Studio City Farmers Market on May 3 in Los Angeles.
—Toria Sheffield, PEOPLE, 4 May 2026
Boyle said the focus is on sharpening product assortments and making the brand more approachable through partnerships and targeted categories.
—Alexa Lomonaco, CNBC, 1 May 2026
Minimal nicks can typically be removed by sharpening the blades, but serious damage may necessitate a blade replacement.
—Timothy Dale, Better Homes & Gardens, 1 May 2026
Mercury moves through your 1st House of Identity, sharpening your voice and making your words more direct than usual.
—Tarot.com, New York Daily News, 1 May 2026
In 2018, Ganni appointed Andrea Baldo as CEO, taking over from Nicolaj, and helped scale the label into an international business, growing its retail network and sharpening its brand identity.
—Maliha Shoaib, Vogue, 27 Apr. 2026
What emerges is a platform less interested in scale than in sharpening its own profile.
—Emiliano De Pablos, Variety, 23 Apr. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sharpening
Verb
-
Their experiments confirmed that adding a single squirt of water to coffee beans before grinding can significantly reduce the static electric charge on the resulting grounds.—
ArsTechnica,
ArsTechnica,
28 Apr. 2026
-
This stock was a disaster from May 2025 through the November lows near $48, losing roughly half its value in a grinding downtrend.—
Josh Brown,Sean Russo,
CNBC,
27 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Tech-art studio Rhizomatiks and Dentsu design experts, both based in Japan, continued honing the capabilities as underlying technology improved.—
Jacob Feldman,
Sportico.com,
25 Apr. 2026
-
The team is always honing their skills, and their training continues at least once a month.—
Ashley Portillo,
CBS News,
17 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Sharpening.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sharpening. Accessed 11 May. 2026.
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