| 释义 |
▪ I. sharp, a. and n.1|ʃɑːp|
Forms: 1–2 scearp, 2–3 scærp, 3 sc(h)erp, scarp, ssarp, Orm. sharrp, 3–4 sarp, 3–6 scharp, 4, 6 sharppe, 4–7 sharpe, 5 sherpe, sarpe, scarpe, 5–6 scharpe, scharp, 6 sharpp, Sc. schairp, scherpe, schirpe, 3– sharp.
[Com. Teut. (wanting in Gothic): OE. scearp corresponds to OFris. skarp, skerp, OS. skarp, MLG., MDu. scharp, scherp (mod.Du. scherp), OHG. scarpf, scarf (MHG. scharpf, scharf, scherpfe, scherf(e, mod.G. scharf), ON. skarp-r (Sw., Da. skarp):—OTeut. *skarpo-.
The Teut. root *skerp-: skarp-: skurp- appears also in OHG. scurfan, MHG. schürfen to cut open (mod.G. to poke a fire), OE. scearpe scarification, scearpian to scarify. The Teut. root *skrep-: skrap- (see scrape v.) appears to be related; no cognates outside Teut. are known. The OHG. and MHG. sarpf (early mod.Du. sarp) sharp is prob. unconnected.]
A. adj.
1. Well adapted for cutting or piercing; having a keen edge or point: opposed to blunt.
a. Having a keen cutting edge. Also said of the edge.
c825Vesp. Ps. li. 4 Swe swe scersæx scearp. Sic ut novacula acuta. c1205Lay. 2310 Mid scearpe mire eaxe. a1225Leg. Kath. 2266 Streche forð þine swire scharp sweord to underfonne. a1400Minor Poems fr. Vernon MS. 758/38 Deþþ draweth his sarpe knif. c1460Urbanitatis 42 in Babees-bk., Fyrste loke..þat þy knyf be sharpe & kene. 1508Dunbar Tua Mariit Wemen 105 Quhen schaiffyn is that ald schalk with a scharp rasiour. 1613Shakes. Hen. VIII, i. i. 110, I know, his Sword Hath a sharpe edge. 1719De Foe Crusoe i. (Globe) 207 They make their wooden Swords so sharp..that they will cut off Heads even with them. 1822Shelley Faust ii. 399 A single blood-red line, Not broader than the sharp edge of a knife. 1907J. A. Hodges Elem. Photogr. (ed. 6) 106 A good sharp penknife may be used.
trans. and fig.c1400Mandeville (1839) xxiii. 254 My woord from hens forthe, is scharp and bytynge as a Swerd. 1567Gude & Godlie B. (S.T.S.) 99 Fra thame that hes thair tungis scharp & ground. 1781Cowper Hope 597 He laughs, whatever weapon truth may draw, And deems her sharp artillery mere straw. 1807–8W. Irving Salmag. (1824) 268 The sharp edge..of public curiosity.
b. Having a tapering end brought to a fine point so as to be used for piercing. Said also of the point itself.
c825Vesp. Ps. xliv. 6 Strele ðine scearpe, Sagittae tuae acutae. a1122O.E. Chron. (Laud MS.) Introd., Da ᵹe namon þa Walas & adrifon sumre ea ford ealne mid scearpum pilum greatum innan þam wetere. c1205Lay. 30752 Swe scarp wes þe pic. a1225Ancr. R. 212 He..pleieð mid sweordes, & bereð ham bi þe scherpe orde uppen his tunge. c1386Chaucer Prol. 114 A gay daggere, Harnessed wel, and sharp as point of spere. 1484Caxton Fables of æsop v. xv, A busshe full of sharp thornes. 1513Life Henry V (1911) 55 The Kinge had geuen commaundement..that euerie man shoulde prouide him a stake sharpe at both endes. 1588Shakes. Tit. A. iv. ii. 91 He dies vpon my Semitars sharpe point. 1688Holme Armoury iii. 324/2 [An instrument] with a sharp point, called a Lancer. 1774Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) VII. 307 Three very sharp teeth. 1819Scott Ivanhoe xli, Deep and sharp rowels. 1887Morris Odyss. i. 104 Then she took the mighty spear, headed and sharp with brass.
transf. and fig.c1550Coverdale Calvin's Treat. Sacram. C j, And wyth sharper prickes can we not be pricked, than in that he compelleth vs (as it were) to see with oure eies [etc.]. 1605Shakes. Macb. i. vi. 23 But he rides well, And his great Loue (sharpe as his Spurre) hath holp him. 1820Shelley Prometh. Unb. iv. i. 192 As the sharp stars pierce winter's crystal air. 1866G. Macdonald Ann. Q. Neighb. viii. (1878) 130 Hope was a sharp goad to my resolution.
c. As complement, esp. with pa. pples.
c1350Ipomadon 8413 (Kölbing), Wythe sperys, that were sharpe grovnde. 1412–20Lydg. Chron. Troy iv. 1014, I hadde of Hector swiche a mortal wounde, With a quarel sharpe whet & grounde. 1508Dunbar Goldyn Targe 111 Dredefull arowis grundyn scharp and square.
d. In similative phrases, sharp as a razor, sharp as a needle, etc. (often transf. and fig. in senses 3–10).
a1000Soul's Address 120 Ᵹifer hatte se wyrm, þe þa eaᵹlas beoð nædle scearpran. 1611Shakes. Cymb. i. iii. 19 To looke vpon him, till the diminution Of space, had pointed him sharpe as my Needle. a1732Gay New Song of Similes 51 Sharp as a needle are her words. 1836Col. Crockett's Exploits in Texas i. 20 A fellow..who in those parts was considered as sharp as a steel trap. 1848Thackeray Van. Fair lxiii, Epigrams that were as sharp as razors. 1851Meredith Love in Valley xv, Sharp as a sickle is the edge of shade and shine. 1858[see 4 j]. 1866Geo. Eliot F. Holt i. I. 46 Denner..had a mind as sharp as a needle. 1912Dialect Notes III. 589 They won't fool him; he's a sharp as tacks. 1976National Observer (U.S.) 10 Apr. 13/4 Mrs. Owen..is not only as sharp as a tack but is perhaps the best-looking school principal in Texas or elsewhere.
†e. Prickly. Obs.
c1000Sax. Leechd. II. 314 Ᵹenim þæs scearpan þistles moran. 1154O.E. Chron. (Laud MS.) an. 1137, [Hi] diden an scærp iren abuton þa mannes throte. 1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 6794 Þe rose springþ of þe brer þat ssarp & kene is. a1300Cursor M. 16616 A crun apon his heued þai sett o scarpe tre þai wroght. c1400Brut ccix, Men sette vppon her Heuedes chapelettes of sharpe netles. 1610Shakes. Temp. iv. i. 180 Tooth'd briars, sharpe firzes, pricking gosse, & thorns. 1611Bible Micah vii. 4 The most vpright is sharper then a thorne hedge.
f. Of sand, gravel, etc.: Composed of materials having sharp points; hard, angular, gritty. Now technical.
1618W. Lawson New Orch. & Gard. xiii. (1623) 46 Sift the earth with coale ashes an inch or two thicknesse, and that is a plague to them [worms], so is sharpe grauell. 1693Moxon Mech. Exerc. (1703) 244 They make use of the sharpest Sand they can get (that being the best) for Morter. 1806Gazetteer Scot. (ed. 2) 69 The soil of the arable part is thin and sharp, but very fertile. 1857T. Moore Handbk. Brit. Ferns (ed. 3) 26 Add to it an eighth part of clean but coarse sharp sand. 1868Joynson Metals 96 Sharp slag, 8 cwts.
†2. Rough, rugged. Obs.
Chiefly as a rendering of L. asper.
c893ælfred Orosius i. i. §7 Swiþe scearpe weᵹas & stanihte. 1382Wyclif Acts xxvii. 29 Thei dredinge lest we schulden falle into scharp places. c1450J. Capgrave Life St. Gilbert xvi. (1910) 86 Wrecchid mete, scharp cloth, þis wold he þei schuld haue. 1574Hellowes Guevara's Fam. Epist. (1577) 173 He commaunded to be made in the moste sharp mounteines of Argos a most solemne Oracle. 1596Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. I. 9 The montane Grampius, and vtheris ruch, scharpe and hard hillis.
fig. and absol.a1536Songs, Carols, etc. (1907) 54 Thow hade þe sharpe, & we the smothe.
3. Acute or penetrating in intellect or perception.
a. Of persons or their faculties: † (a) Intellectually acute, keen witted, discerning, sagacious (obs.). (b) Now in less dignified use: Quick-witted, clever (said esp. of children).
Cf. the dialectal ‘not right sharp’ = half-witted, imbecile.
c888ælfred Boeth. xxxix. 4 Buton he hæbbe swa scearp andᵹit swaðær fyr. c1000Christ's Desc. Hell 76 Eala Gabrihel! hu þu eart gleaw & scearp. c1200Vices & Virtues 23 Þat ðu understande mid scarpe witte hwat hie bien. c1375Sc. Leg. Saints xxvii. (Machor) 670 For þu ȝongare is þane I, scharpare of wyt & mare mychtty. 1474Caxton Chesse iii. vi. (1883) 131 Wherof cometh forgetenes of his mynde and destruction of alle quyk and sharp reson. c1500Lancelot 2885 In his consell wonder scharp and wys. 1590Spenser F.Q. ii. ix. 49 He had a sharpe foresight, and working wit. c1610Women Saints 161 What was more ingenious and sharp of witt than she. 1697W. Dampier Voy. I. 337 Raja Laut is a very sharp man. 1705Evelyn Diary 4 Jan., Dr. King, a sharp ready man in politics. 1837Carlyle Fr. Rev. II. v. vii, Sharp Guadet transfixes you with cross-questions. 1870E. Peacock Ralf Skirl. II. 147 A very sharp lad.
b. Of reasoning or discourse: acute, sagacious. Also, of remarks: pointed, apt, witty.
1580Three Familiar Lett. in Spenser's Poet. Wks. (Oxf. 1912) 616 Master H[arvey]s short, but sharpe, and learned Iudgement of Earthquakes. 1613Shakes. Hen. VIII, ii. i. 14 He..alleadged Many sharpe reasons to defeat the Law. 1700T. Brown Amusem. Ser. & Com. 152 Your Gentlemen that speak sharp and witty Things. 1851Willmott Pleas. Lit. xxi. (1857) 126 It was thus that..the sharp, quick sentence flashed from the lips of Buonarotti. 1968Observer 14 Apr. 24/7 It was a sharp idea of the BBC's Religious Department, letting Malcolm Muggeridge wander round the Holy Land.
c. Of sight, hearing, the eyes or ears: Acute, keen. Often in figurative expressions.
c1000Sax. Leechd. II. 30 Sio syn biþ þy scearpre. c1381Chaucer Parl. Foules 331 The royal egle..That with his sharpe look perceth the sonne. 1599Sir J. Davies Nosce Teipsum Introd. iii, When their Reason's Eye was sharp and clear. 1630R. Johnson's Kingd. & Commw. 8 The grey eye..is sharpest of sight. 1821Scott Kenilw. xxxi, The Queen's sharp eye soon distinguished Raleigh amongst them. 1894Blackmore Perlycross 77 My ears are pretty sharp..and I heard you muttering.
d. Hence of observation, an observer: Vigilant. Phrase, to keep a sharp look-out.
1535Coverdale Lam. iv. 18 They laye so sharpe waite for vs, that we can not go safe vpon the stretes. 1584R. Scot Discov. Witchcr. xiii. xxiii. 265 The sharpest lookers on will saie it is in your other hand. 1828P. Cunningham N.S. Wales (ed. 3) II. 333 As the majority of mankind have a stronger appetite for censure than for praise of those above them, he will naturally keep a sharp look-out with that view. 1889Jessopp Coming of Friars iii. 158 The bishop kept a sharp look-out upon them.
e. Keen-witted and alert in practical matters, businesslike, smart; often with unfavourable implication, quick to take unfair advantage of others. (Cf. sharp practice.)
1697W. Dampier Voy. I. 228 They found that the Don had been too sharp for them. 1722De Foe Col. Jack (1840) 4 He was..sharp as a street-bred boy must be. 1818Scott Rob Roy vii, They got a sharp Newcastle attorney. 1853R. S. Surtees Sponge's Sp. Tour xlv. 252 Among youths of his own age he was reckoned rather a sharp hand. 1855Dickens Dorrit i. xxiii, I have seen so much business done on sharp principles that..I am tired of them. 1859Lever Davenport Dunn lii, All of them ready to do a sharp thing. 1880L. Stephen Pope iv. 94 He..was accordingly pretty sharp at making a bargain with a publisher.
f. In colloq. phr. you're so sharp you'll cut yourself and varr.: variously used as an observation, reproof, or warning implying over-cleverness.
[1903‘T. Collins’ Such is Life (1944) 278 Gosh! you've been on the turkey; you'll be cutting yourself some of these times.] 1910‘H. H. Richardson’ Getting of Wisdom xiv. 142 If you're so sharp, you'll cut yourself! 1930W. S. Maugham Cakes & Ale x. 116 You're so sharp you'll cut yourself if you don't look out. 1968J. Fleming Kill or Cure xiv. 189 He was as sharp as a bag of monkeys, that sharp he'd cut himself.
4. Eager, impetuous, violent.
†a. Of warriors: Eager for battle. Obs.
c1000Ags. Hom. (Assmann) 61/244 Ac ða þa hi ne dydon nane dædbote, Þa sende him god to þone scearpan here Romaniscre leode. a1272Luue Ron 69 in O.E. Misc. 95 Hwer is..Ector wiþ his scharpe meyne. 1471Caxton Recuyell (Sommer) I. 246 That men of armes shold haue no wyues to thende that they myght be more sharpe & fiers in the warre.
†b. Of feelings: Keen, ardent. Obs.
c1375Sc. Leg. Saints v. (Johannes) 501 Rycht sa manis deuocione þat quhile fra contemplacione Is drawyne, sal þe scharpar be. c1400Destr. Troy 1780 Then he shope hym to ship in a sharp haste. 1599Sandys Europæ Spec. (1605) Z 3, Time-servers, who..follow Christ vpon a sharpe devotion, but to his bread, not to his doctrine.
c. Of conflict, warfare, an attack: Carried on with vigour, fierce, keen.
13..Cursor M. 7753 (Gött.) Ful scharp [Cott. snaip] it was, þat stour and snell, All fledd þe folk of israell. c1381Chaucer Parl. Foules 2 Thassay so hard, so sharp the conquering. c1425Wyntoun Cron. vii. viii. (Cott.) 1982 Betweyn þis Rollande of Galoway And Kylkpatrik a batel fel Was don, bath sar, scharpe and snel. 1508Dunbar Goldyn Targe 170 Thair scharp assayes mycht do no dures To me. a1586Sidney Arcadia i. (Sommer) 27 Then began the fight to grow most sharpe. 1610Holland Camden's Brit. (1637) 816 The fight continued sharpe and hot on both parts. 1761Hume Hist. Eng. II. xxvii. 131 Huntley..after a sharp conflict, put to flight the left wing of the English. 1845M. Pattison Ess. (1889) I. 4 The contest between good and evil becomes sharp and deadly. 1890Spectator 3 May, Though the discussion will be sharp, it will be short.
d. Of a storm, a shower, † waves, etc.: Heavy, violent.
13..Minor Poems fr. Vernon MS. 716/33 Scharpe wawes þat Schip has sayled. 1377Langl. P. Pl. B. xviii. 409 ‘After sharpe shoures’, quod pees ‘moste shene is þe sonne’. c1422Hoccleve Learn to Die 556 Whan deeth, as tempest sharp & violent, With woful trouble hem shal vexe & trauaill. 1585T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. ii. xii. 46 A sharpe showre of rayne, whiche contynued vntyll the morning.
e. Of an attack of disease: Acute, violent. † Also = acute a. 2.
1607Topsell Four-f. Beasts 341 Of diseases, some be called long, and some sharpe and short.
f. (a) Of a hawk: Eager for prey; hungry. (b) † Of persons (sometimes with allusion to the hawking sense): Hungry, ‘sharp-set’ (obs.). (c) Of the appetite: Keen. Of the stomach: Craving for food.
1486Bk. St. Albans, Hawking c viij b, Also she may be calde an aspare hawke of sharpenesse or hir corage..she is moost asper and sharpe in all thyngs that belong vnto hir of any other hawkys. 1575Turberv. Faulconrie 133 Then set hir sharpe against an evening and go out to seeke some game. 1577St. Aug. Manual (Longman) 95, I am come with a sharpe stomacke, let me not goe awaye fastyng. 1596Shakes. Tam. Shr. iv. i. 193 My Faulcon now is sharpe, and passing emptie. 1642Fuller Holy St. iii. xxv. 231 Nowa⁓dayes, does not wealth make them lazy, and poverty keep them painfull? like Hawks they flie best when sharp. 1678L'Estrange Seneca's Morals ii. xxiv. 317 When we have fasted our selves Sharp, and Hungry. 1707[E. Ward] Barbacue Feast 7 Their Stomacks were a little too sharp to admit of time enough to crave a Blessing on their Food, but all fell to. 1771Goldsm. Haunch of Venison 5 Though my stomach was sharp, I could scarce help regretting, To spoil such a delicate picture by eating.
g. (a) Quick or active in bodily movement. Of movements, esp. a run, gallop, etc., also of action of any kind: Brisk, energetic.
c1440Promp. Parv. 444/1 Scharp, or delyuer, asper, velox. 1766Goldsm. Vic. W. xvi, Setting my two little ones to box, to make them sharp, as he called it. 1817J. Mayer Sportsman's Direct. (ed. 2) 23 But endeavour to pull quick the instant you see the gun cover the object; you cannot be too sharp. 1842W. C. Taylor Anc. Hist. xvii. §9 (ed. 3) 557 A sharp gallop. 1869Boutell Arms & Armour i. 3 A rapid succession of little sharp blows. 1889Gretton Memory's Harkback 192 After a sharp run, several hunting men baited their horses at the Three Crowns.
(b) Proverbial phr. (Used as an injunction to promptitude; for another use see quot. 1788.)
1706Vanbrugh Mistake iii. i, Are you thereabouts, i'faith? Then sharp's the word. 1788Grose Dict. Vulgar T. (ed. 2) s.v. Sharp, Sharp's the word and quick's the motion with him; said of any one very attentive to his own interest, and apt to take all advantages. 1837T. Hook Jack Brag ii, Be alive, my fine fellow!..sharp's the word and quick's the motion, eh? 1875‘Pathfinder’ Breaking & Training Dogs 44 ‘Come into heel, sir!’ and sharp is the word.
h. Of a stream: Rapid. Now rare.
1655Walton Angler vi. (1661) 132 All Fish that live in clear or sharp streams. 1787Best Angling (ed. 2) 36 From that time they delight to be in sharp streams, and such as are very swift. 1875Encycl. Brit. II. 32/2 (art. Angling) A deep eddy off some sharp stream.
i. Of the pulse.
1843R. J. Graves Syst. Clin. Med. xiv. 161 Pulse 120, sharp; slightly dicrotous. 1897Allbutt's Syst. Med. III. 621 The pulse becomes small, sharp, wiry or thready.
j. Of winter, wintry weather, frost, wind, air: Cuttingly cold, keen.
c1435Chron. London (Kingsford 1905) 2 This same yere was a Riht Sharpe Wynter. 1560J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 197 In the most sharpe time of winter. 1610Shakes. Temp. i. ii. 254 Thou..thinkst it much..To run vpon the sharpe winde of the North. 1722De Foe Plague (1884) 13 With sharp tho' moderate Winds. 1762Sterne Let. to Mrs. Sterne 15 Mar., There has been no snow here, but the weather has been sharp. 1858Hawthorne Fr. & It. Jrnls. (1872) I. 44 Keen and cutting air, sharp as a razor. 1894Hall Caine Manxman v. viii, Though the air was sharp, he had been carrying his cloak over his arm.
k. Of vehicular transport: ahead of schedule, early; hence of a time-table, etc.: tight, demanding. colloq.
1942Berrey & Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Slang §768 Hot, sharp, ahead of schedule. 1945Transit News (Capital Transit Co., Washington, D.C.) 15 June, When a car or bus is ahead of schedule, it's ‘Hot or Sharp’, while when late it's ‘Dragging’. 1977Modern Railways Dec. 480/2 Certain of the intermediate schedules are quite sharp.
5. Severe, strict, harsh.
a. † Of persons: Severe or harsh in temper or mood (obs.). Of temper, etc.: Irritable, irascible.
c1000Sax. Leechd. III. 162 He bið scarp & biter & swiðe wær on his wordum. c1250Gen. & Ex. 3577 So wurð he wroð, o mode sarp, His tables brokun dun he is warp. c1540tr. Pol. Verg. Eng. Hist. (Camden) 147 He was verie sharpe in manners, sterne of nature, exceading crewell. 1638R. Baker tr. Balzac's Lett. (vol. II.) 84 Whether hee bee of these sharpe and soure ones that would take from heaven its starres, and from the earth its flowers. a1668R. Lassels Italy ii. (1698) 96 The Eccho in the well, which answers you indeed, but like a sharp scold, too quick and short.
b. Of persons and their utterances: Cutting in rebuke, invective, or satire; harsh and peremptory in command. Also of looks, tones, etc.: Indicating anger or rebuke.
a1225Ancr. R. 212 Sweord & knif eiðer beoð scherpe & keoruinde wordes. c1386Chaucer Wife's Prol. 14 Lo! which a sharp word for the nones..Iesus..Spak in repreve of the Samaritan. 1471Caxton Recuyell (Sommer) II. 654 Eneas..answered to the kynge wordes sharpe and poynaunt ynowhe. 1568Grafton Chron. II. 984 King Henry wrote to him an aunswere with verie sharpe and grieuous wordes reprouing his vntruth. 1589Puttenham Eng. Poesie i. xxxi. (Arb.) 76 Skelton a sharpe Satirist. 1620Brent tr. Sarpi's Counc. Trent viii. (1629) 728 The Cardinall of Loraine also wrote a sharpe letter to the Pope. a1704T. Brown Prol. 1st Sat. Juv. Wks. 1730 I. 52 Nor sharp Juvenal's stronger verse Perverted into doggrel farce. a1720Sewel Hist. Quakers (1795) I. ii. 139 Yet they were not for using sharp language against such teachers. 1833Tennyson May Queen i. iv, He thought of that sharp look, mother, I gave him yesterday. 1868Freeman Norm. Conq. (1876) II. App. 677 Tostig has sharp words with his brother.
c. Of punishment, persecution, laws, etc., also of a judge, lawgiver, etc.: Severe, merciless.
a1340Hampole Psalter ix. 25 To punysch him in sharp & bittire pyne. c1375Cursor M. 9103 (Fairf.) Sa sare and sharpe martiring was neuer sene on siche a king. 1533Gau Richt Vay (1888) 85 Supposz thow may richtuslie be ane scherp iuge apone wsz. 1576Gascoigne Philomene xcvi. Wks. 1910 II. 192 But in hir minde a sharpe revenge, She fully did reserve. 1663Bp. Patrick Parab. Pilgr. xxx. (1687) 365 This sluggish temper must be banished by a rigorous and sharp penance. 1720Sewel Hist. Quakers (1795) I. Pref. 16 Who will ere long fall under a sharper persecution. 1851Helps Comp. Solit. vi. 96 Those we have lived with are the sharpest judges of our conduct.
d. to be sharp upon: to be hard or severe upon (now only, by way of censure or criticism).
1561in Exch. Rolls Scot. XIX. 475 The said Thomas not to be scharp upoun the said Alexander for payment of the said soum. 1596Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. I. 161 He was so scharpe vpon his abuses. 1678Rymer Trag. last Age 32 Polynices seems ill treated, and his Brother is much too sharp upon him. 1713Addison Guardian No. 109 ⁋5 One of those Untucker'd Ladies whom you were so sharp upon. 1833Lytton Godolphin iv, You are sharp on me, young Sir.
e. Of pain, suffering, grief, etc.: Keen, acute, intense. Of experiences: Intensely painful.
c1000Sax. Leechd. II. 206 Þonne biþ þæt sar scearpre þonne þæs welmes sar þe on þære lifre selfre beoð. a1122O.E. Chron. (Laud MS.) an. 1086, & syððan com se scearpa hungor. c1205Lay. 21944 Heo weoren swiðe iharmede mid scærpen þan hungre. c1250Gen. & Ex. 2989 Gnattes..smale to sen, and sarp on bite. 1340Hampole Pr. Consc. 6563 Þe ferthe [payne of helle] es hunger sharpe and strang. c1386Chaucer Pars. T. ⁋130 This sorwe..shal been hevy and grevous, and ful sharpe and poinant in herte. c1477Caxton Jason 115 b, A sorowe moche aygre and sharp. 1548–9(Mar.) Bk. Com. Prayer, St. Andrew's Day, Collect, The sharp and painful death of the crosse. 1565J. Phillips Patient Grissell 331 (Malone Soc.) The bitter pangs of death, Whose gripes most sharp semd to close my breath. 1592Shakes. Rom. & Jul. v. i. 41 Sharpe miserie had worne him to the bones. a1627Sir J. Beaumont Bosworth F. 74 The sharp Conclusion of a sad success. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 803 The nightly Wolf..now plots not on the Fold; Tam'd with a sharper Pain. 1722Wollaston Relig. Nat. ix. 216 Such injoyments..are followed many times by sharp reflections and bitter penances in the rear. 1843R. J. Graves Syst. Clin. Med. xxvii. 340 Sharp, lancinating pains were felt most frequently in the knee. 1898Watts-Dunton Aylwin xi. iii, A pang at my heart as sharp as though there had been a reasonable hope till now.
† f. transf. Said of a scourge: = smart a. 1.
a1300Cursor M. 5876 And qua ne dos noght yur bidding, Wit scarp scurges yee þam suing. c1450Mirk's Festial 44 To ȝeue hym dyscyplyn apon his bare backe wyth a scharpe ȝerde.
†g. Of a mode of life: Austere. Obs.
1340Ayenb. 165 Þe oþer del is zuo þet hi makeþ..þet lyf þet zuo moche sseweþ ssarp an dreduol to chiese. 1577tr. Luther's Comm. Galat. v. 19 (1580) 270 b, The Carthusians or Charterhouse monkes, whose order..is of all other the straitest & sharpest. 1588Parke tr. Mendoza's Hist. China 254 They were certaine religious men who liued in common, a sharpe and asper life. 1611Shakes. Cymb. iii. iii. 31 Hap'ly this life is best, (If quiet life be best) sweeter to you That haue a sharper knowne.
6. a. Pungent in taste; also, having strong acid, alkaline, or caustic properties. † Of wine: Sour.
c1000Sax. Leechd. I. 354 Nim gate tord meng wið scear⁓pum ecede. 1377Langl. P. Pl. B. xx. 304 Shrifte shope sharpe salue and made men do penaunce For her mysdedes. c1386Chaucer Prol. 352 Wo was his cook, but if his sauce were Poynaunt and sharp. 1477Norton Ord. Alch. v. in Ashm. (1652) 73 As Sharpe tast, Unctuous, and Sower. 1546J. Heywood Prov. (1867) 46 This medicine thus ministred is sharpe and colde. 1577B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. iv. (1586) 187 b, The like quantitie of manna kneaded togither, and giuen them in sharpe wine. 1584Veron Lat. Eng. Dict., Pallacana, a sharpe onion causing the eies to water. 1617Moryson Itin. i. 252 Pomegranates, Olives, Bread, and sharpe Wine. 1639[J. Taylor] (Water-P.) Divers Crabtree Lect. 167, I can weepe no more, unlesse I get a good sharpe Onion in my handkerchiefe. 1641J. Murrell Cookerie (ed. 5) 21 To boyle a Chine of Mutton or Veale, in sharp broth. 1661Boyle Scept. Chem. iv. 254 As soon as I found the Lixivium sufficiently sharp upon the tongue, I reserv'd it for use. 1709Felton Diss. Classics (1718) 106 Every body can tell Sweet from Bitter, what is Sharp, or Sour, or Vapid, or Nauseous. 1732Arbuthnot Rules of Diet in Aliments, etc. 262 What renders the Blood acrimonious or sharp. 1815J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art II. 429 Arsenic acid..has a sharp caustic taste. 1853A. Soyer Pantropheon 71 If you prefer a sharper sauce, mix well some green mint with rue.
b. fig.
1604in Challoner Missionary Priests (1803) II. 21 Although I shall have a sharp dinner, yet I trust in Jesus Christ I shall have a most sweet supper. 1668R. Steele Husbandm. Calling vi. (1672) 152 Drudging at the harrow, that's sharp; but sweeping down the wheat, that's sweet. 1886Mrs. E. Lynn Linton Paston Carew xxxii, That sharp sauce which carries costs and awards damages.
c. Of water: (a) ? Charged with carbonic acid. † (b) Hot, scalding (rare—1).
1660F. Brooke tr. Le Blanc's Trav. 18 The water was sharp and hard. a1700Evelyn Diary 21 Sept. 1644, A fountaine of sharp water which they report wholesome against the stone. 1742Lond. & Country Brew. i. (ed. 4) 28 Water lukewarm put over at first with the Bowl, but soon after sharp or boiling Water.
d. In various technical collocations, as sharp lime, ? unslaked lime; sharp vat (Dyeing), a vat containing a considerable excess of lime (Ure Dict. Arts 1839, p. 674); sharp gas (see quot. 1886).
1772T. Simpson Vermin Killer 15 If you sow sharp lime with the grain. 1886Times 12 Apr. 9/3 Miners had..discovered that some outbursts of gas are what they call ‘sharp’, and are capable of forming a dangerous mixture with much less warning than is usually given. The experiments of the Commissioners show that the ‘sharp’ gas of the miners contains a larger proportion of marsh gas.
7. As a general term of approbation. orig. U.S. slang.
a. Excellent, fine.
1940J. O'Hara Pal Joey 97, I sound like everything was sharp. 1963in C. Booker Neophiliacs (1969) viii. 186 WIP'S opens late february london's sharpest nightclub. 1979Arizona Daily Star 5 Aug. (Advt. Section) 20/4 The home is sharp with four bedrooms. Ibid. 20/3 Sharp and roomy 4 bdrm split plan with spacious modern kitchen.
b. Of clothes: stylish, fashionable, smart, ‘snappy’. Hence of the wearer: well-dressed, attractive.
1944C. Calloway Hepsters Dict., Sharp.., neat, smart, tricky. Ex., ‘That hat is sharp as a tack.’ 1956B. Holiday Lady sings Blues i. 20, I was always the sharpest kid in the block when I was dressed up. 1962Observer 18 Feb. 23/2 It's more a desire for things you haven't got but feel you've a right to, because other people have them—a sharp suit, good things, neat things, flashy things. 1969W. Ash Take-off iv. 57 When Jacques turned up, he was looking pretty sharp..in the sort of dark suit which..looks expensive. 1977N. Marsh Last Ditch iii. 55 Louis..looked almost embarrassingly smooth in breeches, boots, sharp hacking-jacket and gloves.
c. Of a motor vehicle: smart, well-equipped; in good condition. Cf. sharp n.1 13.
1970Globe & Mail (Toronto) 28 Sept. 27/4 (Advt.), Chevrolet convertible, fully equipped, a real sharp car. 1974Anderson (S. Carolina) Independent 19 Apr. 10b/6 (Advt.), V-8, automatic power steering, electric seats..one of the sharpest around. 1977Drive Sept.–Oct. 16/1 The Saab interior, however, is drab—not sharp at all.
8. a. Of sound: Penetrating, shrill, high-pitched.
1390Gower Conf. III. 90 Nou scharpe notes and nou softe. 1420–2Lydg. Thebes i. 205 Be vertue only of the werbles sharpe That he made in Mercuries harpe. 1604E. G[rimstone] D'Acosta's Hist. Indies v. xxix. 418 A flute of earth, having a very sharpe sound. 1687Dryden Song St. Cecilia's Day 37 Sharp Violins proclaim Their jealous Pangs, and Desperation. 1774Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) IV. 9 Their voice is not so sharp as the note of some other animals. 1810Scott Lady of L. iii. x, A sharp and shrieking echo gave, Coir-Uriskin, thy goblin cave! 1866Whittier Maids of Attitash 20 The wood-bird's plaintive cry, The locust's sharp reply. 1871R. Ellis Catullus lxiv. 262 A sharp shrill tinkle.
†b. Of an accent: = acute a. Also of a syllable: Bearing the acute accent. Obs. rare.
1589[see accent n. 1, 6]. 1611Cotgr., Accent aigu, a sharpe accent marked thus,´, & much vsed. 1612Brinsley Pos. Parts (1615) 46 b, Euery Nowne Substantiue common, increasing sharp or long in the Genitiue case, is the feminine Gender.
c. Phonetics. (a) Used to express the acoustic quality of the high-front vowels; (b) a designation for unvoiced consonants. Obs. in technical use.
(a)c1532G. Du Wes Introd. Fr. in Palsgr. 899 Ye shal pronounce..your i, as sharpe as can be. 1871Public Sch. Lat. Gram. 9 §12, I [is] the thin sharp palatal.
(b)1841Latham Eng. Lang. i. 104 Concerning the Mutes we may predicate that one half of them is Flat, and the other half Sharp. 1899Allbutt's Syst. Med. VII. 450 The voiceless group containing the sharp consonants.
9. Mus.
a. Of a note: Relatively high in pitch.
b. Of a note, singing, an instrument: Above the regular or true pitch; too high.
c. A sharp, C sharp, D etc. sharp: the sound which is a semitone higher than A, C, D, etc. Also the key or other contrivance in a musical instrument for producing such a note.
d. Of an interval, † key, or † scale: = major.
e. Of a key: Having sharps in the signature. †
f. B sharp: the early name for the sign ♮, used to counteract a flat.
1597Morley Introd. Mus. 3 The ♭ cliefe which is common to euery part, is made thus ♭ or thus ♮ the one signifying the halfe note and flatt singing: the other signifying the whole note or sharpe singing. 1662Playford Skill Mus. i. i. (1674) 5, B duralis or B sharp. 1694W. Holder Harmony (1731) 151 The Differences of those we call Flat, or Sharp Keys; the Sharp, which take the Greater Intervals within Diapason, as Thirds, Sixths, and Sevenths Major, are more brisk and airy. 1746Tansur New Mus. Gram. 73 Observe, to Tune all Sharp-Thirds, as sharp as the Ear will admit. 1752tr. Rameau's Treat. Mus. 36 If that Concord was a Major, or a Sharp, as the Third and the Sixth may be. Ibid. 107 Chromatick may be practised in sharp Keys, upon the sharp Third to a Governing-note. 1782H. Cowley Bold Stroke for Husb. ii. iii, Trying a semibreve in G sharp, has made me as flat as double F. 1818Busby Gram. Mus. 318 note, The Chord of the extreme Sharp Sixth. 1848Rimbault Pianoforte 19 The black key which lies Between C and D, is called C-sharp or D-flat.
quasi-adv.1880Athenæum 17 Jan. 96/2 There was on Saturday a tendency to sing sharp, which was at times unpleasantly noticeable.
10. With reference to form only (without implication of cutting or piercing).
a. Tapering to a (relatively) fine point.
1340Hampole Pr. Consc. 820 Hys nese, at þe poynt, es sharp and smalle. 1561Hollybush Hom. Apoth. 23 [Tokens of death.] When..the nose waxeth sharpe. 1599Shakes. Hen. V, ii. iii. 16 His Nose was as sharpe as a Pen. 1613Purchas Pilgrimage iv. xiii. (1614) 413 Long and sharpe chins. 1712J. Morton Nat. Hist. Northampt. 106 Turbinated Shells.., some with a broader, others with a narrower and sharper Spire. 1784Cowper Task iii. 157 Travel nature up To the sharp peak of her sublimest height. 1821Scott Kenilw. xvii, A perpetual blush, which occupied rather the sharp nose than the thin cheek of this personage.
†b. Ending in an angle, pointed, peaked. sharp moon: the crescent moon. crooked and sharp (Her.): angular zigzag. Obs.
c1420Two Cookery Bks. 38 Take blaunchid Almaundys, & kerf hem long, smal, & scharpe. 1486Bk. St. Albans, Her. d vii, He berith pale crokyt and sharpe of Sable and Syluer. 1530Palsgr. 266/1 Scharpe ende of the moone, corne. 1617Moryson Itin. i. 142 With a long visage and a little sharpe beard upon the chin. 1686Wood Life 6 July (O.H.S.) III. 191 Tuesday, between 11 and 1 a sharp or new moone was seene in the skies. 1687A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. ii. 85 A heap sharp at the top like a Sugar-Loaf.
c. Of an angle: † (a) Less than a right angle: = acute a. (Obs.: common in the 16th c.). (b) Relatively small or acute. (c) Abrupt, not rounded off or blunted; involving sudden change of direction; so sharp turn.
(a)c1537R. De Benese Meas. Lande A iiij, The last is a sharpe angle, lyke to one of the angles of a tryangle. 1594Blundevil Exerc. i. (1597) 57 b, For the one [angle] is right, and the other sharpe. 1688Holme Armoury iii. 376/2 A sharp angle or corner, being less than a square Angle.
(b)1589P. Ive Pract. Fortif. 2 The angles that do happen in it, may be made the flatter or sharper.
(c)1825J. Nicholson Oper. Mech. 537 Knocking off the sharp angles with the thick end of a tool called a scabling hammer. 1877A. B. Edwards Up Nile xx. 574 A sharp turn to the right. 1910Hirth in Encycl. Brit. VI. 191/1 Lines drawn through the eyes of one of the oldest Chinese hieroglyphics cross each other at a sharp angle.
d. Of an ascent or descent, a rise or fall (lit. or fig.): Abrupt.
1725De Foe Voy. round World (1840) 257 We had gone up upon a sharp ascent. 1785Cowper Task i. 326 Hence the declivity is sharp and short, And such the re-ascent. 1877Huxley Physiogr. xviii. 313 A very sharp rise leads from the Pacific to the range of the Andes.
e. Naut. Of the shape of a vessel: Having a narrow and wedge-shaped bottom.
1709W. Dampier Voy. III. ii. 47, I would have..hal'd my Ship ashore..but my Ship being sharp, I did not dare to do it. 1721Perry Daggenh. Breach 115 Ships, more especially such as are sharp and built for Sailing. 1815Falconer's Dict. Marine (ed. Burney), Sharp-Bottom, is synonymous with a sharp floor, and used in contradistinction to a flat floor. 1886Encycl. Brit. XXI. 821/1 This tendency on the part of a sharp ship..by her wedge-shaped form in the fore and after bodies, is great.
f. Of features: Emaciated, peaked, thin.
[1561,1599: see a.] 1833Tennyson Death Old Year 46 His face is growing sharp and thin. 1865Whittier Changeling 29 My face grows sharp with the torment.
†11. Naut. Of the wind: ? Almost dead ahead. (Cf. sharp adv. 2.) Obs. rare—1.
1669Sturmy Mariner's Mag. i. ii. 17 The Wind is sharp, hawl forward the main Bowline.
12. a. Having the angles or edges not rounded off or flattened; hence, clear or distinct in outline or contour. Often in immaterial sense, of contrasts, distinctions, etc.: Not shaded off, abrupt, strongly marked. spec. of the definition of a photographic image; also transf. of a lens producing a sharp image.
1675A. Browne App. Art of Limning 8 The Complexions of Virgins and Fair Young Women are not so much different from the other in the Colouring: as in the Sharpness of the Work, those few and sharp Muscles in the Body [etc.]. 1815J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art II. 809 The plaster..hardens in a few minutes, and takes a very sharp impression. 1855Orr's Circ. Sci., Inorg. Nat. 207 The chiselled margins of the pillars and cornices of the latter, are still as sharp as when first carved. 1856Stanley Sinai & Pal. ii. (1858) 133 Those who..are brought into the sharpest geographical contrast. 1883J. H. T. Ellerbeck Amateur's First Handbk. iv. 22 Screw out the whole until, having taken the cap off the lens, you find the image, upside down, coming up sharp, then take a magnifier and see that it is perfectly sharp. 1895Saintsbury Corr. Impr. 38 The very musical poets are too apt to let the sharp and crisp definition of their picture be washed away in floods of sound. 1899Allbutt's Syst. Med. VIII. 921 With regard to the first three forms [of drug eruption] no sharp lines can be drawn. 1921Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 6 Apr. 5/1 (Advt.), Negatives which are exceptionally clear and ‘sharp’ make splendid enlargements. 1961G. Millerson Technique Television Production iii. 34 Many simple photographic and motion-picture cameras have no focusing mechanism. And yet, at the push of a button, they produce acceptably sharp pictures. 1979SLR Camera Jan. 42/3 Although we did not shoot our optical test target we can say that this is a very sharp lens.
b. Physical Sci. Of a phenomenon, condition, or state, esp. resonance: having, or occurring over, a narrow range of values of energy; capable of graphical representation by a curve showing a sharp peak; clearly defined.
1906G. Eichhorn Wireless Telegr. vi. 40 The slighter the damping, the sharper the resonance. 1936R. S. Glasgow Princ. Radio Engin. ix. 248 The effect of resistance predominates and the tuning is sharpest at the low-frequency end. 1960Dicke & Wittke Introd. Quantum Mech. xvi. 308 The longer a particle can stay trapped before escaping, the sharper the energy level is. 1971P. E. Hodgson Nuclear Reactions & Nuclear Structure xiv. 414 If the resonance is sharp..the cross-section due to the resonating partial waves greatly exceeds that due to all the other partial waves.
B. n.
1. a. A sharp weapon; spec. a small sword (in 18th cent. part of a civilian's attire); a rapier used for duelling as opposed to a ‘blunt’ or buttoned weapon. Obs. or arch.
13..Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 424 Þe scharp of þe schalk schyndered þe bones. a1375Joseph Arim. 513 Mony swouȝninge lay þorw schindringe of scharpe. 1654Gayton Pleas. Notes 67 Through blunts to sharpes, through surcingles to the garters and Zones of Amazones. 1723S. Centlivre Beau's Duel iii. i, I think a Gentleman ought to wear a sharp for a terror to the Vulgar, and because 'tis the fashion. 1775Sheridan Rivals iv. i, But for your curst sharps and snaps, I never knew any good come of 'em.
†b. Phr. to fight, play, etc. at the sharp, at sharp(s: to fight with unbated swords, to fight in earnest, in contradistinction to fencing. to go or come to the sharp: to come to bloodshed. Obs.
1579–80North Plutarch, Romulus (1595) 26 A combate of fensers (called Gladiatores) fighting at the sharpe. 1600Holland Livy ix. xl. 344 As for that other furniture, it was rather a good bootie than armour of proofe; faire and resplendent, before men come to the sharp, but foule and unseemely amongst bloudie wounds. 1615G. Sandys Trav. 297 One goodly Amphitheater..where Fencers at sharpe succeeded the actors. 1694Jer. Collier Misc., Of Duelling 37 If Butchers had but the Manners to go to Sharps, Gentlemen would be contented with a Rubber at Cuffs. 1748Smollett Rod. Rand. xii, He would even fight captain Weazel at sharps; but it should be with such sharps as Strap was best acquainted with, namely razors. 1826Scott Woodst. xviii, There is daylight enough now for a game at sharps.
c. fig.
1596Nashe Saffron Walden F 4 b, Put a whole million of Iohannes Mabusiusses of them together, and they shall not handle their matters at sharpe so handsomly as I [marg. Painters sharp handling]. 1643Sir T. Browne Relig. Med. ii. §vii. 156 The Devill that did but buffet Saint Paul, playes mee thinkes at sharpe with me. 1720Shadwell Epsom W. i, Since they were so much too hard for us at Blunts, we were fools to go to Sharps with them.
†2.
a. A sharp edge; spec. the edge of a sword. Obs.
13..Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 1593 For þe mon merkkez hym wel as þay mette fyrst, Set sadly þe scharp in þe slot euen. c1430Pilgr. Lyf Manhode i. xxvii. (1869) 19 Bi the flatte of the swerd j vnderstonde good and trewe avisement... With the flatte ye shulden vsen to smite whan ye seen youre subiectes erre... And if ye mown so haue hem it is bettere than to smite with the sharpe. 1625Purchas Pilgrims IV. 1596 The Captaine commanded that they should be put to the sharpe of the sword.
b. fig.
1602Daniel Musophilus lxxii, They present, with the sharp of envy, strain To wound them with reproaches and despite. 1679Oldham Sat. Jesuits Prol. 26 'Tis pointed Satyr, and the sharps of Wit For such a prize are th' only Weapons fit. a1734North Examen i. ii. §96 (1740) 82 At present I haue to do only with the Matter of a Treaty (which the Rebels expected) and not with the Sharps, which to their great Surprise and Confusion fell upon them.
c. the sharp of the hand: the edge of the hand.
1840R. H. Dana Bef. Mast xxx. 108 An old salt, pointing with the sharp of his hand to leeward. 1896Clark Russell Tale of Ten III. 272 Six men..standing up, staring under the sharp of their hands.
†3. The termination of anything which is pointed or which tapers to a point. Obs. rare.
1633in Verney Mem. (1892) I. 108 The cloath sute, the skirts wrought in Pickendell, with two sharps on the hoase. 1638Mayne Lucian (1664) 248 The decent slendernesse of her fingers, ending in a beautiful sharpe. 1848Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. IX. ii. 553 Those poles where the sharp has not been broken off are likely to break when put up and loaded with bine.
4. Mus.
a. A high-pitched note. (rare.)
b. A note raised half a tone above the natural pitch.
c. In musical notation, the sign {sharp} which indicates this raising of the note; † also the sign ♮ (see quot. 1653 and cf. A. 9 f). double sharp: the sign x indicating that a note must be raised two semitones.
d. sharps and flats: see flat n.3 14.
1576Gascoigne Grief of Joy iv. xix. Wks. 1910 II. 551 Whiles I searcht, the semyquaver toyes, The glauncing sharpes, the halfe notes for the nones. 1592Shakes. Rom. & Jul. iii. v. 28 It is the Larke that sings so out of tune, Straining harsh Discords, and vnpleasing Sharpes. 1612Drayton Poly-olb. xiii. 55 The throstle with shrill sharps, as purposely he song T' awake the lustlesse sun. 1653Ld. Brouncker tr. Des Cartes' Compend. Mus. 37 Finally, the voyce ♮, is called a Quadrate, or Sharp, because it is the most Acute, and the opposite to ♭ Soft or Flat. 1746Francis tr. Hor., Art of Poetry 474 In vain his tuneful Hand the Master tries, He asks a Flat, and hears a Sharp arise. 1806J. W. Callcott Mus. Gram. v. 58 The Double Sharp is sometimes marked with a single Cross. 1842Browning Pied Piper ii, Shrieking and squeaking In fifty different sharps and flats. 1855Tennyson Brook 40, I chatter over stony ways, In little sharps and trebles.
e. allusively.
1599in Farr S.P. Eliz. (1845) II. 382 Let all your sharps Bee feares of faithfull harts; And all your flats The death of your desarts.
†5. A shoal in a river-bed. Obs. rare.
1776G. Semple Building in Water 56 Shoals or Sharps in navigable Rivers.
†6. Some kind of fish. Cf. sharpling. Obs.
a1636T. Westcote View Devonsh. (1845) 39 Fish... Shott. Seal. Sharpe. Sturgeon.
7. Each of the two raised ledges forming the sides of the mould upon which sheet-lead is cast. Usually in plural.
1703Neve City & C. Purchaser (1736) s.v. Lead, This Mold..consists of..Boards..nail'd down fast, and upon these, at a due Distance..the Sharps are fixed... At each end [of the strike] is cut a Notch..; so that when the Strike is us'd, it rides upon the Sharps with those Notches... [Settle the sand] by lifting up one end of the Strike, letting the other rest upon the other Sharp. 1825J. Nicholson Oper. Mech. 360.
8. a. = sharper.
1797M. Robinson Walsingham IV. 277 The sharps have queered me. 1812J. H. Vaux Flash Dict., Sharp, a gambler, or person, professed in all the arts of play; a cheat, or swindler. 1894Maskelyne Sharps & Flats ii. 25 The successful sharp.. must have unbounded self-confidence if his wiles are to be of any avail.
b. colloq. An expert, connoisseur, a wise man or one professing to be so.
1840Spirit of Times 12 Sept. 330/2 This race completely took in the ‘sharps’, who brought the bay filly as a ‘bite’ on purpose to beat the chesnut, who won the race. 1865Pall Mall Gaz. 11 Sept. 10/1 The long list of ‘sharps’ who advertise their ‘tips’ in the sporting journals. a1872B. Harte Poems, Cicely 44, I never saw such a star, And I thought of them sharps in the Bible, and I went for it then and thar. 1880A. Gray Lett. II. 702 You know I am no picture sharp. 1885W. T. Hornaday 2 Yrs. in Jungle i. 5 Unless he is a scientific sharp, the chances are he cannot name a living species..which cannot be found represented there.
9. pl. The finer particles of the husk and the coarser particles of the flour of wheat and other cereals (separated from the bran and the fine flour in the process of milling); the ‘middlings’ between bran and flour.
The Lutterworth Advertiser of 3 Feb., 1912, reports a case heard at Petty Sessions in which the plaintiff, supported by the County Analyst, maintained that the term was applied to the ‘middlings’ of wheat only, while the defendant and trade witnesses asserted that ‘sharps might contain rice, oats, tapioca; it was a general name for mill offals’.
1801Farmer's Mag. Apr. 215 These sharps were ground a second time, and boulted a third time, and the produce was 46 lb. of second flour of barley. 1824[Carr] Craven Gloss., Sharps, coarse ground flour with a portion of bran. 1844H. Stephens Bk. Farm II. 352 The sharps, or that portion which consists of the heart of the grain, and which is broken and escapes from between the millstones. 1896A. Austin England's Darling ii. i, None o' your sharps nor dog-bran, but real Earl's barley-meal.
10. pl. One of three grades of needles, including those of greatest length and most acutely pointed.
1834Chambers's Edin. Jrnl. III. 129/2 The traveller, knowing the fondness of the Africans for needles, had brought..a great quantity of Whitechapel sharps. 1849Longfellow Kavanagh v, If I do not like the sizes, he offers to exchange them for others, either sharps or betweens. 1862Morrall Needle-making 38 The Sharps are those usually called ‘Sewing needles’. 1892‘F. Anstey’ Voces Pop. (1907) 241, I want..two packets of egg-eyed sharps.
11. = sharpie.
1891Century Dict., Sharp. A kind of boat used by oyster⁓men. Also sharpie, sharpy.
12. Diamond-cutting.
a. (See quot.)
1891Century Dict., Sharp. In diamond-cutting, the edge of the quadrant when an octahedral diamond is cleft into four parts.
b. A sharp piece of diamond used to mark the point of intended cleavage; a pencil-like tool to which such a diamond is attached.
1903W. R. Cattelle Precious Stones 67 To cleave, the crystal is fastened to the end of a stick and a V-shaped incision made in the grain with a sharp piece of diamond, called a ‘sharp’. 1973G. Jenkins Cleft of Stars iii. 36 Called technically a ‘sharp’, my diamond pencil looked like an ordinary pencil made of metal.
13. N. Amer. slang. A second-hand car in excellent condition (see quot.). Cf. sense 7 c of the adj. above.
1960Wentworth & Flexner Dict. Amer. Slang 463/2 Sharp,..a used but well-cared-for automobile having extra accessories.
C. Comb.
1. In parasynthetic adjs., as sharp-angled, sharp-beaked, sharp-bellied, sharp-bladed, sharp-boned, sharp-bottomed, sharp-bowed, sharp-breasted, sharp-clawed, † sharp-copped, sharp-cornered, sharp-eared, sharp-faced, † sharp-haired, † sharp-headed, sharp-keeled, sharp-leaved, † sharp-nebbed, † sharp-piled, † sharp-quilled, sharp-ribbed, sharp-ridged, sharp-scented, sharp-snouted, † sharp-staked, sharp-† tailed, sharp-tasted, sharp-tempered, sharp-textured, sharp-thorned, sharp-toed, † sharp-visaged, sharp-winged.
1832J. Rennie Butterfl. & Moths 143 The *Sharp Angled Peacock.
1611Cotgr. Belenne, a certaine little,..small-mouthed, and *sharp-beaked, fish. a1661B. Holyday Juvenal, Sat. v. (1673) 77 By sharp-beak'd Ships.
1804Shaw Gen. Zool. V. 76 *Sharp-bellied Salmon.
1913J. London Let. 5 Sept. (1966) 397 You must in your dealings be..as straight as the edge of the *sharpest-bladed sword. 1933W. de la Mare Fleeting 119 A homelier music than this bleaching wind's In these sharp-bladed grasses.
1794T. Dwight Greenfield Hill 44 His *sharp-bon'd horse..Tied, many an hour, in yonder tavern-shed. 1976W. Trevor Children of Dynmouth i. 14 Timothy Gedge was..a boy with a sharp-boned face and wide, thin shoulders.
1792J. Phillips Hist. Inland Navig. (1795) 319 Busses, and other unavoidably *sharp-bottomed vessels.
1865W. Whitman Drum-Taps 41 O the beautiful, *sharp bow'd steam-ships. 1946I. Irving Royal Navalese 155 Sharp-bowed, the description of a man who has had a very close-cropped hair-cut.
1698Phil. Trans. XX. 262 Deformities.., as Hunch Back'd, Pot Belly'd, *Sharp Breasted.
1838M. Howitt Birds & Fl., House-sparrow 8 You find..everywhere the *sharp-clawed and the bigger still pressing on the lesser and forlorn!
1639Horn & Rob. Gate Lang. Unl. xxiii. §281 Such as have *sharp-coppid crowns, are very subject to fall mad.
1773Gentl. Mag. XLIII. 597 They are sprinkled with small projecting pebbles, and *sharp-corner'd flints.
1890‘R. Boldrewood’ Col. Reformer (1891) 211 There was..no danger of the *sharp-eared blacks' dogs giving tongue in time to warn them.
1889J. K. Jerome Idle Thoughts 32 A timid maiden, driven by a hard and *sharp-faced matron.
1706J. Stevens Span. Dict., Peliagudo, *sharp-hair'd, so they call the Kid, Calf, and Rabbet. 1755Smollett Quix. (1803) IV. ii. iii. xv. 71, I would not have you touch these ragoo'd rabbits, because they are a sharp-haired food [orig. Sp. manjar peliagudo].
1420–2Lydg. Thebes 4223 On..with a quarel *sharpe heded for his sake, Markede hym with a bowe of brake. 1545R. Ascham Toxoph. i. (Arb.) 73 A sharpe heeded shafte. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 126 The Colt, that for a Stallion is design'd,..Sharp headed, Barrel belly'd, broadly back'd.
c1600Horsey Trav. (Hakl. Soc.) 186 [The ships are to be] *sharpe-kielled not flatt-bottomed. 1667Dryden Ann. Mirab. clvii, In shipping such as this, the Irish Kern, And untaught Indian, on the Stream did glide: Ere sharp-keel'd Boats to stem the Floud did learn.
1777Lightfoot Flora Scot. I. 306 Red *sharp-leav'd Mint.
1604Drayton Owle 206 The *sharp-nebd Hecco stabbing at his braine.
1615Chapman Odyss. xx. 201 And then the Prince..Tooke to his hand his *sharp-pil'd Lance.
1593Shakes. 2 Hen. VI, iii. i. 363 A *sharpe-quill'd Porpentine.
1844J. R. Lowell Poems 220 Grim Boaz, who, *sharp-ribbed and gaunt, yet feared A thing more wild and starving than himself. 1910W. de la Mare Three Mulla-Mulgars xvii. 224 Thimble lay in a sleep so quiet..it seemed to Nod the heart beneath the sharp-ribbed chest was scarcely stirring.
1872Coues Key N. Amer. Birds 48 The tarsus of the vast majority of land birds is seen..to be *sharp-ridged behind.
1927E. Sitwell Rustic Elegies 81 The *sharp-scented rose⁓boughs.
1611Cotgr., Raye au long bec, the..*sharp-snowted Ray. 1804Shaw Gen. Zool. V. 91 Sharp-snouted Salmon.
1815Milman Fazio (1821) 23 The broad and *sharp-staked trenches of the law.
1430–40Lydg. Bochas iii. xvi[i.] (1494) m iv, And vnder that falshede Hony shed oute *sharpe tayled lyke a bee.
1697Dryden Virg. Georg. ii. 175 *Sharp tasted Citrons Median Climes produce. 1829Scott Anne of G. xix, Thin Moselle wine, so light and sharp-tasted, that [etc.].
1837Carlyle Fr. Rev. I. vi. iii, Our *sharp-tempered Arthur has been ‘pestered for some days past’, by shot.
1864G. M. Hopkins Let. 20 July (1956) 213 Roughed it; I believe it means irritating the skin on *sharp-textured blankets. 1967Coast to Coast 1965–66 195 You lie down in the sharp-textured air of the desert night.
1912W. de la Mare Listeners 92 Wreathed shall with incense be Thy *sharp-thorned may. 1965J. A. Michener Source (1966) 76 Sharp-thorned vines clutched at them and sucking mud tried to grasp their ankles.
1804European Mag. XLV. 20/1 *Sharp-toed shoes.
a1676Hale Prim. Orig. Man. ii. vii. (1677) 200 The Welsh that inhabit the Mountains [are] commonly *sharp-visaged. 1687Lond. Gaz. No. 2250/4 A tall lean Man with curl'd short Hair, small Eyes, and sharp visag'd.
1634Sir T. Herbert Trav. 18 A small blacke Bird long and *sharp-winged. 1832J. Rennie Butterfl. & Moths 26 The Sharp Winged Hawk..appears in July.
2. a. Special combinations and collocations, as † sharp artery [L. arteria aspera: see artery 1 and trachea], the wind-pipe; † sharp bone, the breast-bone of a bird; sharp-cone Math. (see quot.); sharp end Naut. slang, the bows of a ship; also transf., the front line, the centre of activity; esp. in phr. at the sharp end; sharp-eyed a., keen of sight; transf. observant, penetrating; sharp eyespot, a fungal disease of cereals similar to eyespot but caused by Corticium solani (Thanetophorus cucumeris) and characterized by more clearly defined markings; sharp-fanged a., having a sharp tooth; fig. biting (in speech), caustic, sarcastic; sharp featured a., peaked, thin; sharp-fin, ‘an acanthopterygian fish’ (Cent. Dict. 1891); sharp-heeled a., (of a cock) spurred, wearing spurs; sharp-iron Naut., a caulkers' reeming-iron; sharp land north., soil containing a large proportion of gritty matter; sharp-nail, ‘a nail with a forged point, used in some trades’ (Knight Dict. Mech. 1875); sharp-nails dial., in Jack Sharpnails, the stickleback; † sharp-new a., a term applied to the appearance of the crescent moon; † sharp-nose, a mean person; sharp-shinned a., slender shanked; spec. as the distinctive epithet of a hawk, Accipiter fuscus, common in N. America; sharpshins dial., (a) a fleet-footed person; (b) a sharp-witted person; an intelligent child; sharp-tailed a., having a tapering tail or pointed tail-feathers; spec. in names of birds and animals having this characteristic; sharp-tongued a., bitter of speech; sharp-toothed a., keen of tooth; transf. rending, tearing; sharp-Tuesday dial., Shrove Tuesday; sharp-ware, edged tools (in quot. attrib.); sharp-whites (see quot.).
1578Lyte Dodoens iv. lxxx. 544 The..*sharpe Arterie or wind pipe.
a1756E. Haywood New Present (1771) 29 Cut the goose down both sides of the breast, half an inch from the *sharp bone.
1872Cayley Math. Papers (1895) VIII. 102 The special forms of (quadri-)cones; these are: 1° The *sharp-cone, or plane-pair; that is, a pair of two planes, intersecting in a line called the axis, the vertex being in this case an indeterminate point on the axis.
1948Partridge Dict. Forces' Slang 166 *Sharp end, the, the bows of the ship... (Navy.) (2) Hence, at the sharp end..at the front, well forward. 1973D. Francis Slay-Ride i. 9 Arne pointed the sharp end back... The dinghy slapped busily through the little waves. 1976New Scientist 28 Oct. 230/2 Within a few months I was appointed financial controller... But I still wasn't at the sharp end. 1980A. Price Hour of Donkey ii. 36 The distant sound of bombing indicated that he was very close to the sharp end of the war.
1670Dryden 1st Pt. Conq. Granada ii. i, To *sharp-eyed reason this would seem untrue. 1820Scott Monast. xxxii, He knew it not, he saw it not—but I was sharper-eyed. 1843Chamb. Jrnl. 46/1 The coarse-coated, sharp-eyed, snarling terrier.
1943Nature 7 Aug. 161/1 In the first wheat crop after grass, eyespot is generally absent or rare, but *sharp eyespot is found just as commonly as on old arable land. 1980F. Hope in E. Gram et al. Recognition & Control of Pests & Dis. Farm Crops (ed. 2) 136/1 Sharp Eyespot (Rhizoctonia cerealis/Corticium solani) is similar in appearance to Eyespot, the main difference being that the lesions are more defined and angular, whilst the dark borders are easily distinguished from the linear areas.
1598Marston Sco. Villanie i. ii. B 8 b, What power will'th desist? Or dares to stop a *sharpe fangd Satyrist? 1643Trapp Comm. Gen. xlvii. 1 How potent that quick-sighted and sharp-fanged malignity is. 1887Meredith Ballads & P. 39 'Twixt her and sharp-fanged nature Honour first did plant the fence.
1824Miss Mitford Village I. 239 Mr. Beck..was a little, insignificant, perking, *sharp-featured man.
c1660R. Wilde Poems (1870) 51 The skilful judges of the play Brought forth their *sharp-heeled warriors. 1686R. Blome Gentl. Recr. ii. 277/2 That Cock is said to be sharp Heel'd.
1887Röhrig Technol. Wörterbuch I, Scharfeisen,..(Schiffb.) *Sharp iron. 1895in Funk's Standard Dict.
1808W. H. Marshall Rev. Northern Rep. Agric. I. 6 The soil appears to be pretty uniformly of a sandy or gravelly nature, what in Scotland is termed ‘*sharp land’.
1497Naval Acc. Hen. VII (1896) 293 CC of *Sharpe nayle price of euery C—ijs iiijd..D sharpenayle price the hundred ij. 1734Builder's Dict., s.v. Nail, Sharp Nails..are made with sharp Points and flat Shanks.
1787Grose Prov. Gloss., *Jack-sharp-nails, a prickle-back, called also in Middlesex, a strickle-back. Derb.
1635D. Person Varieties i. iii. 10 [The Moon] hath a glimps of light indeed of her selfe, but that is dimme and obscure; as may be seene in the *sharp-new (as we say).
1611Cotgr., Visage de rebec, a sneake-bill, *sharp-nose, chittiface.
1704Lond. Gaz. No. 4034/4 A short Negro Man,..*sharp Shin'd, long Heel'd. 1826Stephens in Shaw's Gen. Zool. XIII. ii. 31 Sharp-shinned Hawk. 1884Harper's Mag. Mar. 621/1 The sharp-shinned is our most abundant hawk.
1883–6C. S. Burne Shropshire Folk-Lore xxxv. 581 ‘*Sharpshins’ is still applied in Shropshire, 1st, to light heels, 2nd, to sharp wits, e.g. ‘Be off, sharpshins!’ = run away, make haste... ‘Now then, sharpshins! taking me up as usual!’..said in rebuke to some smart speech, display of cleverness, or captious criticism. 1915D. H. Lawrence Rainbow iii. 76 ‘What does she say, that I'm a fawce little thing?’ the small girl asked afterwards. ‘She means you're a sharp-shins.’
1678Ray Willughby's Ornith. 364 The *sharp-tail'd Island Duck of Wormius. 1785Pennant Arct. Zool. II. 306 Sharp-tailed Grous. 1793Buffon's Nat. Hist. Birds VI. 461 The Sharp-tailed Goat⁓sucker. 1834J. J. Audubon Ornith. Biogr. II. 281 The Sharp-tailed Finch.
1837Wheelwright tr. Aristophanes I. 172 The *sharp-tongu'd rival's whetted teeth. 1875McLaren Serm. Ser. ii. iv. 75 The questions of a sharp-tongued servant-maid.
1604Hieron Preachers Plea To Rdr. A 3 Let the most professed and *sharpe-toothed carper say what he please. 1605Shakes. Lear ii. iv. 137 She hath tied Sharpe-tooth'd vnkindnesse, like a vulture heere. 1855W. Whitman Leaves of Grass 62 Blind loving wrestling touch! Sheathed hooded sharptoothed touch! 1938M. K. Rawlings Yearling xxi. 270 They had found..the weak and the strong brought together to earth, the sharp-toothed and the dull.
1858N. & Q. Ser. ii. V. 209 The curious custom existing in that town [Crewkerne] ‘of throwing stones against people's doors on what the boys called ‘*Sharp Tuesday’’. 1874M. E. Whitcombe Bygone Days Devon & Cornw. 187 Shrove Tuesday is known by the boys as ‘Sharp Tuesday’.
1688Holme Armoury iii. xiv. (Roxb.) 3/1 The badge of the company of *Sharp-ware men, such as make all sorts of edge tooles.
1820Accum Adulterat. Food 14 *Sharp whites (a term given to flour contaminated with..alum).
b. In names of birds, as sharp-bill = oxyrhynchus 2; sharp-tail U.S., (a) the sharp-tailed grouse, Pediœcetes phasianellus; (b) any bird of the sub-family Synallaxinæ.
1826Stephens in Shaw's Gen. Zool. XIV. i. 199 Oxyrhynchus, Sharpbill. 1867T. R. Jones Nat. Hist. Birds 119 Synallaxinæ. The Sharptails.
c. In names of plants. (a) With reference to the pointed or prickly nature of their foliage, as † sharp-bind = sharp smilax; sharp cedar [= F. cèdre piquant], a tree, Juniperus oxycedrus; sharp club-rush, Scirpus pungens (Miss Pratt, Brit. Grasses 1859); sharp-pry-grass dial., Carex glauca; sharp rush, Juncus acutus; † sharp smilax, Smilax aspera; sharp thistle (see quot.). (b) With reference to the acid properties of the plant, as sharp dock (see dock n.1 1 b); † sharp-herb, ? = sharp dock.
1548Turner Names of Herbes (E.D.S.) 75 Smilax aspera... It maye be called in englishe Pryckewynde or *Sharp⁓bynde.
1840Paxton Bot. Dict., *Sharp Cedar.
c1050Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 464/1 Oxylapatium, sio *scearpe docce. 1693Evelyn De La Quint. Compl. Gard. II. vi. 193 Sharp Dock, or Dock-Sorrell.
1659R. Lovell Herbal 544 *Sharp-herb Cocoxihuitl, Herba acris.
1803Hunter Georgical Studies III. 88 (E.D.D.), I pared and burnt some *sharp-pry-grass ings that had not been ploughed in the memory of man.
1597Gerarde Herbal i. xxiii. 31 The *sharpe Rush.
1562Turner Herbal ii. 141 The *sharpe smilax hath leaues lyke vnto wodbinde.
1878Cumberld. Gloss. p. xix, Cnicus arvensis, *Sharp thistle.
3. Quasi-advb. as complement with ppl. adjs., as † sharp-built, sharp-cut, † sharp-grinded, † sharp-ground, sharp-looking, sharp-whetted.
1755N. Magens Insurances II. 256 If it be desired to insure a *sharp-built Ship or Vessel [etc.].
1865Tylor Early Hist. Man. ix. 240 They then seizing the *sharp-cut stake.
1700Dryden Pal. & Arc. iii. 513 The Turney is allow'd but one Career, Of the tough Ash with the *sharp-grinded Spear.
a1300Cursor M. 21437 *Scarp grunden knijf in hand he bar. 1592Shakes. Rom. & Jul. iii. iii. 44 Had'st thou..no sharpe ground knife.
1590― Com. Err. v. i. 240 A needy-hollow-eyed-*sharpe-looking-wretch.
1887Morris Odyss. x. 535 Thou shalt sit with thy sword *sharp-whetted drawn from thy thigh.
▪ II. sharp, n.2 dial.|ʃɑːp|
[? Corruption of shaft n.2]
A shaft of a cart. Usually pl.
1733Tull Horse-Hoeing Husb. xxiii. 363 Part of the Limbers, which are also called Shafts, Sharps, and Thills. 1844W. Barnes Poems Rur. Life Gloss., Sharps, the shafts of a cart or other carriage.
▪ III. sharp, adv.|ʃɑːp|
Forms: 1 scearpe, 4 charpe, 4–6 sharpe, scharpe, 6 Sc. scherp, scharp, 6– sharp.
[OE. scearpe, f. scearp sharp a.]
1. a. In a sharp manner, = sharply in various senses; † shrilly; † niggardly, stingily. Also, smartly, nattily (after sharp a. 7 b).
c1000Ags. Ps. (Th.) xciii. 9 And him eaᵹena ᵹesyhð eallum sealde, and he scearpe ne mæᵹe ᵹesceawian? c1000Hexam. St. Basil viii, Ða fuᵹelas..ðe be flæsce lybbað syndon clyferfete and scearpe ᵹebilode. c1330R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 1010 [v.r.] So scharpe þei com. 1377Langl. P. Pl. B. xviii. 39 Al her courte on hym cryde crucifye sharpe. c1384Chaucer H. Fame 774 For whan a pipe is blowen sharpe The aire ys twist with violence. 1500–20Dunbar Poems xxvi. 42 Knyvis that scherp cowd scheir. c1590Marlowe Jew of Malta iv, Pil. Farewell Fidler: One letter more to the Iew. Curt. Prethe, sweet loue, one more, and write it sharp. 1607Lingua i. vi. B 3, How princely do I speake, how sharpe I threaten. 1635Markham Eng. Husbandm. i. iii. (ed. 2) 11 If Flies and small Gnats bite sharpe and sore. 1763Foote Mayor of G. ii. Wks. 1799 I. 182, I hunted and hunted as sharp as if it had been for one of my own minikens. 1822Scott Peveril vii, What makes you ride so sharp this morning? 1852M. Arnold Tristram & Is. i. 55 Loud howls the wind, sharp patters the rain. 1951J. H. Smyth I, Mobster xiii. 142 He was dressed sharp, like the wise guys on Broadway. 1981‘D. Shannon’ Murder most Strange i. 15 He was..dressed real sharp, a gray suit, not just sports clothes.
b. Abruptly, suddenly.
1836Dickens Sk. Boz, Scenes xxv, He turns sharp round to the left, and pauses before another gate. 1859Lever Dav. Dunn xlvi, The odds are, he'd pull me up pretty sharp for doing so without his authority. 1860Mrs. Carlyle Lett. III. 42 The horse..turns sharp round and stands stock still. 1885Spectator 25 July 961/1 The Government..have this week been pulled up sharp.
c. In an invitation or appointment: Punctually, precisely (at the hour specified).
1840Thackeray Shabby-genteel Story iii, They should dine that day at three o'clock sharp. 1844W. H. Maxwell Sports & Adv. Scot. x. (1855) 101 Dinner had been ordered at ‘sharp five’. 1893G. Allen Scallywag I. 35 At ten sharp the first arrivals began to greet one another.
d. Phrases. look sharp: see look v. 5. look sharp after: see look v. 5 and cf. 12 e and f. look out sharp: see look v. 40 c.
2. Naut. As near fore and aft as possible, trimmed as near as possible to the wind.
1669Sturmy Mariner's Mag. i. ii. 17 Thus have you all the Sails trimm'd sharp. 1769Falconer Dict. Marine ii. (1789), Bouter le Lof, to trim all sharp; to spring the luff. 1815Falconer's Dict. Marine (ed. Burney) s.v. Sharp, To Brace up Sharp, is to turn the yards to the most oblique direction possible, so as that the ship may lie well up to the wind. 1849W. S. Mayo Kaloolah ii. (1850) 24 In a moment more the frigate braced sharp up. 1899F. T. Bullen Log Sea-waif 215 Away we went, braced sharp up on the starboard tack to the north-westward.
3. Comb. Qualifying a ppl. adj. used attrib., and commonly hyphened.
1562J. Heywood Prov. & Epigr. (1867) 184 Where shooteth this sharpe shootyng archer? 1580Tusser Husb. (1878) 38 Sharp cutting spade, for the deuiding of mow. 1590Spenser F.Q. ii. ix. 52 Bent hollow beetle browes, sharpe staring eyes, That mad or foolish seem'd. 1725Pope Odyss. v. 621 Nor here the sun's meridian rays had pow'r, Nor wind sharp-piercing. 1842Tennyson Morte D'Arthur 190 Juts of slippery crag that rang Sharp-smitten with the dint of armed heels. 1876Green Hist. Eng. People I. i. 4 The forger of mighty shields and sharp-biting swords. 1895Kipling 2nd Jungle Bk. iii. 30 The sharp-smelling wood-smoke.
▪ IV. sharp, v.|ʃɑːp|
Forms: α. 1 scyrpan, 1–2 scerpan, 5 schyrpe, 6 scherp, 6, 9 dial. sherp, 9 dial. shirp; β. 3–6 scharp, 4–5 scharpe, 4–7 sharpe, 5 shaarp, 6 Sc. schairp, 4– sharp.
[OE. *scierpan, scęrpan, scyrpan, = OS. (gi)scerpian (L.G., Du. scherpen), MHG. scherpfen (mod.G. schärfen), Icel. skerpa, Sw. skärpa, Da. skærpe (perh. from LG.):—OTeut. type *skarpjan-, f. *skarpo- sharp a. In later Eng. this formation probably blends with a new formation on the adj.]
1. a. trans. = sharpen v. 1. Now dial. or arch.
α14..Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 565/48 Ascio, to thwyte or schyrpe. 1503Dunbar Thistle & Rose 121 Syne crownit scho the Egle King of Fowlis, And as steill dertis scherpit scho his pennis. 1583Shuttleworths' Acc. (Chetham Soc.) 7 Sherpeinge the harrove pennes ijd. 1883Berks. Gloss., Sherp this knife vor I, 'ooll 'e.
βa1340Hampole Psalter, Song of Moses 60 If .i. had sharpid as leuynynge my swerd. c1375Sc. Leg. Saints ii. (Paulus) 839 [He] fand a tre, and it scha[r]pit [L. exacuit] With his tetht. c1412Hoccleve De Reg. Princ. 1905 Sharpe thi penne, and write on lustily. 1513Douglas æneis xiii. ii. 127 The cristit foule..For to resist hir sa scharpand hir byll [etc.]. 1614Gorges Lucan vi. 255 And therewithall he sharpes the rocks. 1626Breton Fantast. (Grosart) 6/2 Now Cupid begins to nocke his Arrowes and sharpe their heads. 1684H. Woolley Queen-like Closet Suppl. 92 Pieces of Wire sharped at one end. 1815Scott Ld. of Isles v. xxiv, Let Ettrick's archers sharp their darts. 1858–61Ramsay Remin. iv. (1870) 82 He's sharping his teeth. a1945E. R. Eddison Mezentian Gate (1972) xxviii. 137 A ready means lay to hand in converse with brother: a merry war, sharping and training up the claws of her wit.
b. transf. and fig.
αc825Vesp. Ps. cxxxix. 4 Scerptun tungan heara. c1000Ags. Ps. (Spelman) Ibid. [Trin. MS.], Scyrptun.
βa1340Hampole Psalter cxxxix. 3 Þai sharpid þaire tunges as neddirs. 141126 Pol. Poems 45 To sharpe my wreche y wole bygynne, Take vengeance for his trespas. a1542Wyatt Ps. vi. 51 See how my soul doth freat it to the bones: Inward remorse so sharp'th it like a knife. 1600Fairfax Tasso xx. lxii, Disdaine her ire new sharpt and kindled hath.
†2. intr. = sharpen v. 7. Obs.
αa1200Fragm. ælfric's Gram. (1838) 5 Him scerpeþ þe neose him scrinckeþ þa lippen.
βc1325Old Age ii. in E.E.P. (1862) 149 Eld me awarpeþ, þat mi schuldern scharpiþ, and ȝouþe me haþ let. a1400in Pol. Rel. & L. Poems (1903) 253, & his nese shal sharpen. a1536Proverbs in Songs, Carols, etc. (1907) 128 Sone hit sharpith, that thorn will be.
†3. trans. = sharpen v. 2. Obs.
αa1100Gerefa in Anglia IX. 260 Symle he sceal his hyrmen scyrpan mid manunge to hlafordes neode. 1527Andrew Brunswyke's Distyll. Waters G j, The same water put in the iyen in the mornyng..sherpeth the syght.
βc1380Wyclif Sel. Wks. I. 52 But Crist sharpide þes mennis bileve. c1400tr. Secreta Secret., Gov. Lordsh. xxxvii. 69 It..makys þe sight clerer, shaarpys þe wittes. 1590Spenser F.Q., Dedic. Sonn., To Ladies in Crt. 7 Much more me needs..To sharpe my sence with sundry beauties vew. 1633B. Jonson King's Entert. Welbeck (1640) 274 Whom the Whetstone sharpes to eat, And cry Milstones are good meat.
†4. = sharpen v. 3. Obs.
a1340Hampole Psalter ix. 25 Þe synful sharpid [L. exacerbavit] god. 1387Trevisa Higden (Rolls) IV. 121 [He] schewed hem þe juse of grapes.. forto scharpe hem to þe bataille [L. ad acuendum eos in prælium]. c1440Promp. Parv. 444/1 Scharpyn, or steryn to hastynesse, exaspero.
5. To make sharp (in various transferred senses of the adj.).
†a. = sharpen v. 2 b.
a1425tr. Arderne's Treat. Fistula, etc. 58 When blode is aduste it is scharped. 1564–78W. Bullein Dial. agst. Pest. (1888) 39 Let euery one of them..vse the regiment of diet to driyng, sharped with vinegar or tart thynges.
†b. To roughen (the sea). Obs. rare—1.
1513Douglas æneis iii. v. 2 Frosty wynter scharpit [L. asperat] the watter cleir With cald blastis.
c. Mus. = sharpen v. 4. Occas. used intr. with personal subject.
1662Playford Introd. Skill Mus. i. vi. 21 Mi and Fa do serve for the flatting or sharping the ordinary Notes in the Scale. 1746Tansur New Mus. Gram. 93 Where E is sharp'd and becomes Mi. 1895[see flat v.2 7].
†d. = rough v.1 1 d, sharpen v. 5. Obs.
1841F. A. Kemble Rec. Later Life (1882) II. 145 Finding the roads dangerously slippery for our horses, which were not sharped,..we dismounted.
†e. To brighten (a colour). Obs.
1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xix. xvii. (1495) 874 In olde tyme men vsyd to sharpe [L. acuere] this colour Minius wyth the blode of a certayne worme.
f. intr. for refl. To dress up, to dress smartly. Cf. sharp a. 7 b. U.S. colloq.
1957J. Kerouac On Road (1958) i. ix. 53 Tim, Rawlins, and I decided to sharp up for the big night.
†6. to sharp up: to admonish sharply. Obs.
1647Trapp Comm. Matt. xxiii. 33.539 See how our Saviour sharps up these Heresiarchs, that, if possible, they might be made sound in the faith.
†7. intr. To play the sharper. Obs.
1709Mrs. Manley Secret Mem. (1720) II. 255 To sharp, deceive, and run into Debt. 1785Cowper Task iii. 86 Then he that sharp'd, And pocketted a prize by fraud obtain'd, Was mark'd and shunn'd as odious.
8. trans.
a. To cheat, swindle, trick (a person).
a1700B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew s.v. Clear, The Fellow is..Drunk, let's Sharp him. 1720Lett. Lond. Jrnl. (1721) 39 Throngs of Setters and Cullies, sharping and cheating one another. 1882Daily News 19 Jan., A gang of men (probably the same as those who would have sharped me) try the same trick.
b. To obtain by swindling, to steal.
1706E. Ward Wooden World Diss. (1708) 13 Should a half starv'd Sailor sharp a Pair of old Shoes from him. 1716M. Davies Athen. Brit. III. Suppl. Diss. Drama 31 Those must be only Popish Amusements, for to sharp a little Popish Subsistance-Money. |