(superl.) Having a very thin edge or fine point; of a nature to cut or pierce easily; not blunt or dull; keen.
(superl.) Terminating in a point or edge; not obtuse or rounded; somewhat pointed or edged; peaked or ridged; as, a sharp hill; sharp features.
(superl.) Affecting the sense as if pointed or cutting, keen, penetrating, acute: to the taste or smell, pungent, acid, sour, as ammonia has a sharp taste and odor; to the hearing, piercing, shrill, as a sharp sound or voice; to the eye, instantaneously brilliant, dazzling, as a sharp flash.
(superl.) High in pitch; acute; as, a sharp note or tone.
(superl.) Raised a semitone in pitch; as, C sharp (C/), which is a half step, or semitone, higher than C.
(superl.) So high as to be out of tune, or above true pitch; as, the tone is sharp; that instrument is sharp. Opposed in all these senses to flat.
(superl.) Very trying to the feelings; piercing; keen; severe; painful; distressing; as, sharp pain, weather; a sharp and frosty air.
(superl.) Cutting in language or import; biting; sarcastic; cruel; harsh; rigorous; severe; as, a sharp rebuke.
(superl.) Of keen perception; quick to discern or distinguish; having nice discrimination; acute; penetrating; sagacious; clever; as, a sharp eye; sharp sight, hearing, or judgment.
(superl.) Eager in pursuit; keen in quest; impatient for gratification; keen; as, a sharp appetite.
(superl.) Keenly or unduly attentive to one's own interest; close and exact in dealing; shrewd; as, a sharp dealer; a sharp customer.
(superl.) Composed of hard, angular grains; gritty; as, sharp sand.
(superl.) Steep; precipitous; abrupt; as, a sharp ascent or descent; a sharp turn or curve.
(superl.) Uttered in a whisper, or with the breath alone, without voice, as certain consonants, such as p, k, t, f; surd; nonvocal; aspirated.
(adv.) To a point or edge; piercingly; eagerly; sharply.
(adv.) Precisely; exactly; as, we shall start at ten o'clock sharp.
(n.) A sharp tool or weapon.
(n.) The character [/] used to indicate that the note before which it is placed is to be raised a half step, or semitone, in pitch.
(n.) A sharp tone or note.
(n.) A portion of a stream where the water runs very rapidly.
(n.) A sewing needle having a very slender point; a needle of the most pointed of the three grades, blunts, betweens, and sharps.
(n.) Same as Middlings, 1.
(n.) An expert.
(v. t.) To sharpen.
(v. t.) To raise above the proper pitch; to elevate the tone of; especially, to raise a half step, or semitone, above the natural tone.
(v. i.) To play tricks in bargaining; to act the sharper.
(v. i.) To sing above the proper pitch.
Example Sentences:
(1) Basal 20 alpha DHP levels remained low until a sharp rise at mid pro-oestrus.
(2) Whole-virus vaccines prepared by Merck Sharp and Dohme (West Point, Pa.) and Merrell-National Laboratories (Cincinnati, Ohio) and subunit vaccines prepared by Parke, Davis and Company (Detroit, Mich.) and Wyeth Laboratories (Philadelphia, Pa.) were given intramuscularly in concentrations of 800, 400, or 200 chick cell-agglutinating units per dose.
(3) Gonadectomy of females was accompanied by changes in the activity of individual HAS links in different direction--some reduction of ACTH in the hypophysis, a sharp and significant fall of the peripheral blood glucocorticoid level and a marked significant elevation of hydrococortisone production in the adrenal cortex in vitro.
(4) The University of the Arts London and Sunderland, Sheffield Hallam, Manchester Met and Leeds Met university have also experienced sharp declines in applications.
(5) A sharp decrease in oxygen uptake occurred in Neurospora crassa cells that were transferred from 30 degrees C to 45 degrees C, and the respiration that resumed later at 45 degrees C was cyanide-insensitive.
(6) In contrast to findings in the rat and dog, no sharp drop but a gradual fall in CLi was observed at decreasing FENa values down to 0.02%.
(7) A more specific differentiation, as indicated by the sharp increase in GAD levels which was concurrent with an increase in interneuronal contacts, lagged behind the initial growth.
(8) It appears that the decline in plasma IGF-I lags considerably behind the sharp fall in plasma GH levels and expression of hepatic IGF-I mRNA.
(9) Supplementation of Mg resulted in a sharp increase in serum PTH level with a rapid disappearance of the dissociation between the two immunoassays of PTH.
(10) A.CA animals were extremely susceptible, showing a sharp and sustained increase in parasitemia starting on day 12, followed by death no later than day 15 post-inoculation.
(11) There was a sharp transition with actin nearly saturated with S1: when the S1 to actin ratio was low, the kinetics were fast (K1 greater than 300 microM, k2 greater than 40 s-1); when it was high, they were slow (K1 = 14 microM, k2 = 2 s-1).
(12) Low calcium causes an increase in optimum frequency, a decrease in current threshold, and an increase in sharpness of tuning in both real axons and axons computed according to the Hodgkin-Huxley formulation; high calcium causes opposite effects.
(13) The Tea Party movement has turned climate denial into a litmus test of conservative credentials – and that has made climate change one of the most sharp divisions between Obama and Romney.
(14) The presence in lamprey kidney of a loop which is similar to Henle's loop in mammals and birds indicates that the development of the system of osmotic concentration conditioned by the formation in the kidney of the medulla and from a sharp increase in renal arterial blood supply.
(15) There is no longer a sharp dividing line between working and rentiering.
(16) We are going to see a sharp fall unless sellers hold the sector up by making aggressive offers.
(17) A sharp increase in the intensity of lipids biochemiluminiscence and decrease in the tissue homogenates biochemiluminiscence were observed during the period of progressive tumour growth on the 6-8 days following introduction of the virus.
(18) By no means is this a new theme, but it has taken on an added sharpness and urgency after the conferences.
(19) The blood lymphocytes were small with scanty cytoplasm, densely condensed nuclear chromatin, and deep clefts originating in sharp angles from the nuclear surface.
(20) In sharp contrast, the coverage provided by the various mainstream news channels and newspapers not only seems – with some exceptions – unresponsive and stilted, but often non-existent.
Sharpen
Definition:
(a.) To make sharp.
(a.) To give a keen edge or fine point to; to make sharper; as, to sharpen an ax, or the teeth of a saw.
(a.) To render more quick or acute in perception; to make more ready or ingenious.
(a.) To make more eager; as, to sharpen men's desires.
(a.) To make more pungent and intense; as, to sharpen a pain or disease.
(a.) To make biting, sarcastic, or severe.
(a.) To render more shrill or piercing.
(a.) To make more tart or acid; to make sour; as, the rays of the sun sharpen vinegar.
(a.) To raise, as a sound, by means of a sharp; to apply a sharp to.
(v. i.) To grow or become sharp.
Example Sentences:
(1) This paper employs a rhetorical form designed to clarify and sharpen the focus of the very special stance required--which must be painstakingly learned under careful supervision--in order to effectively tune in to communications coming from the unconscious of the patient.
(2) Although not all reported unconventional applications of antimicrobial agents remain in use, sharpening awareness of their multifaceted actions should encourage broader understanding of all agents traditionally confined to specific uses.
(3) The surprise return of Saleh last month, after recovering in Saudi Arabia from an assassination attempt, has plunged the country into deeper uncertainty and sharpened the differences between pro- and anti-government camps.
(4) Ear-piercing techniques include needles, safety pins, sharpened studs, and self-piercing kits.
(5) The factory sharpened scalers exhibited metallic extensions from the lateral surface (wire edges).
(6) Disruption of visual activity, either by blocking activity with intraocular tetrodotoxin (TTX; Schmidt and Edwards, 1983) or by synchronizing activity with strobe illumination (Schmidt and Eisele, 1985), disrupts the sharpening process: the map is correctly oriented but the multiunit receptive fields at each point average 25-40 degrees in diameter.
(7) NaOH or 1 M acetate buffer at pH 6.0 sharpened e.p.r.
(8) The addition of 1 mM MgATP leads to a sharpening of the length distribution around 1.5 micron without change in the 16 nm diameter.
(9) During this period, the intensity of transcription in presomitic and somitic mesoderm declines relative to that in the overlying neural ectoderm, and the transcription boundary within the presumptive hindbrain region sharpens.
(10) The overall sense is of YouTube sharpening its focus on its most popular content, both in terms of individual channels and entire categories.
(11) The day before the murder you Adebolajo bought five knives and a knife sharpener – which you used to sharpen some of the knives in preparation for their use in the murder.
(12) The sharpening dispute over the Senkaku islands, known as Diaoyu in China , is the most recent product of this old narrative of violence, hatred, fear and grief that continues, sporadically, to obstruct both nations in their efforts to forge a more stable, trusting relationship.
(13) Hagan himself used to work in the car industry, and brought a similar shift operation and level of automation to the housing factory to sharpen up the process.
(14) Jam is often used but this can make it too sweet – if you do use jam try mixing in a little lemon juice to sharpen things up.
(15) By the time the latest spat came before the FCC, Karr argues, net activists had sharpened their tactics and raised their game.
(16) To improve the definitions, eliminate overlapping diagnostic categories, and sharpen the fuzzy boundaries that contribute substantially to limited reproducibility, we suggest: (1) the categories of astrocytoma nos, fibrillary astrocytoma, and protoplasmic astrocytoma be collapsed into a single category of astrocytoma; (2) the diagnostic category of desmoplastic medulloblastoma be combined with medulloblastoma; and (3) the criteria for anaplasia should be further refined to include quantification of critical histologic features, e.g., agreed upon operational definitions for amount of cell density, number of mitoses and pleomorphism for anaplastic astrocytoma and anaplastic ependymoma.
(17) Rather than pointing fingers or assigning blame, let’s use this occasion to expand our moral imaginations, to listen to each other more carefully, to sharpen our instincts for empathy and remind ourselves of all the ways that our hopes and dreams are bound together … If this tragedy prompts reflection and debate – as it should – let’s make sure it’s worthy of those we have lost.
(18) When sharpened with citrus and lubricated with olive oil, this is a real delight.
(19) His friend Dingle Foot drafted an editorial that David then sharpened up, inserting phrases that summed up his outlook: 'We had not realised that our government was capable of such folly and crookedness...It is no longer possible to bomb countries because you fear that your trading interests will be harmed...this new feeling for the sanctity of human life is the best element in the modern world.'
(20) The temperature profiles of turbidity (TP tau) of the cyclododecapeptide are analogous to those of the polyhexapeptide where increases in concentration lead to translations of the profiles to lower temperature without sharpening of the transition.