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 event allowed Democrats to outline overlapping priorities — including universal support for expanding Medicaid — while sharpening other differences in their platforms.
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Greg Bluestein, AJC.com, 9 Jan. 2026
Besides cleaning it, sharpening the blades, and draining the gas, don’t overlook your mower’s oil.
—Karen Brewer Grossman, Southern Living, 5 Jan. 2026
There are lots of exercises for sharpening proprioception, but the surfing doctor is partial to bodies of water.
—Steve Lopez, Los Angeles Times, 1 Jan. 2026
That means their approach keeps sharpening with real exposure rather than theoretical practice.
—Nia Bowers, Miami Herald, 31 Dec. 2025
Per its official synopsis, the book includes tips on sharpening emotional and cognitive intelligence, as well as overcoming self-doubt and rejection.
—Carly Tagen-Dye, PEOPLE, 30 Dec. 2025
Traditional lenses are limited to sharpening one focal plane (the distance between an object and your camera) at a time, blurring everything behind or in front of that object.
—Jess Weatherbed, The Verge, 29 Dec. 2025
While Republicans blast Mamdani as the face of socialism, Newsom has been quietly, and at times aggressively, cultivating donors, visiting early-primary states, and sharpening a message aimed at elevating California’s model of governance on the national stage.
—Samantha-Jo Roth, The Washington Examiner, 7 Nov. 2025
To stand out in a competitive market, consider sharpening your resume to be outcomes-based, building your personal brand on LinkedIn and doing mock interviews, GrowthLoop senior recruiter Kathleen Nolan previously told CNBC Make It.
—Jennifer Liu, CNBC, 7 Nov. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sharpening
Verb
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Downtown tunnel closures The rail grinding project will also be coordinated with the weekend closures of the Downtown subway tunnel to combine efforts in the area and reduce the impact on riders.—
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Marty Supreme follows a wildly gifted, unapologetically cocky aspiring table tennis superstar named Marty Mauser (Chalamet), grinding it in Lower Manhattan circa 1952.—
Verb
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Think of honing as maintenance, and sharpening as repair.—
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The league is still honing its consistency with penalizing flopping, which can only add to the confusion Adelman mentioned when coaches are trying to ensure their players are in positions to play ball freely.—
Cite this Entry
“Sharpening.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sharpening. Accessed 13 Jan. 2026.
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