(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.
Strap
Definition:
(n.) A long, narrow, pliable strip of leather, cloth, or the like; specifically, a strip of thick leather used in flogging.
(n.) Something made of such a strip, or of a part of one, or a combination of two or more for a particular use; as, a boot strap, shawl strap, stirrup strap.
(n.) A piece of leather, or strip of wood covered with a suitable material, for sharpening a razor; a strop.
(n.) A narrow strip of anything, as of iron or brass.
(n.) A band, plate, or loop of metal for clasping and holding timbers or parts of a machine.
(n.) A piece of rope or metal passing around a block and used for fastening it to anything.
(n.) The flat part of the corolla in ligulate florets, as those of the white circle in the daisy.
(n.) The leaf, exclusive of its sheath, in some grasses.
(n.) A shoulder strap. See under Shoulder.
(v. t.) To beat or chastise with a strap.
(v. t.) To fasten or bind with a strap.
(v. t.) To sharpen by rubbing on a strap, or strop; as, to strap a razor.
Example Sentences:
(1) A definite correlation was established between the disease and the character of work and specificity of the working postures: a long stay in a bent position aggravated by the pressure of the apron strap weighing 8-10 kg on the lumbar part of the spine.
(2) The surest way for either side to capture the mood of a cash-strapped country would be to give ground on those of their demands which have least merit.
(3) Tragedy was averted because there was a little delay as the prayers did not commence in earnest and the bomb strapped to the body of the girl went off and killed her,” he added.
(4) The cell shape varied greatly and included dendritic, stellated and strap-shaped forms as well as multinucleated giant cells, similar to those of juvenile melanomatas.
(5) It's hard to imagine a more masculine character than Thor, who is based on the god of thunder of Norse myth: he's the strapping, hammer-wielding son of Odin who, more often than not, sports a beard and likes nothing better than smacking frost giants.
(6) To be effective, strapping must adhere to the entire abdominal wall rather than to the edges of the incision; it must also be permeable to body fluids and well tolerated.
(7) The last time I visited they were rollerblading and after plenty of assistance managing the straps and buckles on the hefty skates, I took to the floor.
(8) A single anatomic unit is rebuilt, transferring a strong new muscle strap with ideal supporting vectors and leaving scars in natural creases.
(9) Rare is the interview that concludes with the subject pinging one’s bra strap.
(10) The City is most focused on the investigation begun in April 2009 into the bank before it was rescued by the taxpayer following the takeover of ABN Amro, which left it crippled with bad debts and strapped for cash after paying too much for the bank just as the credit crunch began.
(11) The cash-strapped HMV retail chain clinched a deal on Friday to sell its Waterstone's bookshops to the Russian billionaire Alexander Mamut for £53m.
(12) They believed the film strips strapped around his forearm, which they called a sleeve, would stimulate his muscles to make those movements a physical reality.
(13) It’s easy money for cash-strapped African treasuries.
(14) These eventrations are enormous in Africa because the post-partum women do not make active movements to develop again the abdominal strap.
(15) Two hundred consecutive patients with arthrographically verified rupture of one or both of the lateral ankle ligaments were allocated to treatment with either an operation and a walking cast, walking cast alone, or strapping with an inelastic tape - all for 5 weeks.
(16) The dermal-subdermal plexus is continuous across the midline and this contralateral pathway is supplied chiefly from branches of the superior thyroid artery, facial artery, and myocutaneous perforators of the strap muscles.
(17) He now faces an even harder task of selling his economic policies to a doubting and cash-strapped nation when his taxman in chief, the man responsible for fiscal "justice", was hiding a stack of cash from the tax authorities and brazenly lying about it.
(18) The extra cost of the deployment is estimated at $35bn, at a time when the US is strapped for cash because of the recession.
(19) The backpack was held snugly in place by shoulder and body straps.
(20) Ever since I first strapped a radio to my bag, people have been warning me that the cycle courier is an endangered species.