| 释义 |
sharpness|ˈʃɑːpnɪs|
[f. sharp a. + -ness.]
The quality of being sharp.
1. Keenness or fineness of edge or point.
c725Corpus Gloss. (Hessels) A 117 Acumen ferri, ecg uel scearpnis. c1375Sc. Leg. Saints xxxvii. (Vincencius) 317 Þe scharpnes of þe schellis. c1440Promp. Parv. 444/1 Scharpnesse, of egge, acucies. a1586Sidney Arcadia iii. (Sommer) 293 b, The vnfaythfull armour yeelding to the swoordes strong-guided sharpenesse. c1611Chapman Iliad xx. 387 My lance as well as thine Hath point and sharpenesse. 1787Hist. Jack & Giants 13 Taking with him the cap of knowledge, sword of sharpness [etc.]. 1837Carlyle Fr. Rev. III. iii. v, Herein has Sansculottism fashioned for itself a Sword of Sharpness. 1888Pall Mall Gaz. 22 Aug. 5/2 A bar of steel..of wonderful temper and sharpness.
2. a. Intellectual acuteness, shrewdness.
c897ælfred Gregory's Past. C. xvi. 99 Swæðeah for ðære sceawunge ðara unᵹesewenlicra ðinga ðeah he upaðened wære on his modes scearpnesse. 1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. ii. xx. (1495) 47 The euyll angellis haue thre maner of sharpenesse [orig. Triplici acumine vigent demones]. 1532Sir B. Tuke Chaucer's Wks. Pref. A ij b, Suche sharpnesse or quycknesse in conclusyon. 1646H. P. Medit. Seige 55 Nor let them want sharpnesse to discerne, nor courage to execute what should be done in such exigencies. 1814W. Wilson Hist. Dissent. Churches IV. 486 Wickliff..possessed a sharpness of wit. 1895Law Times XCIX. 547/1 An articled clerk of average sharpness may rely upon getting through with three months' coaching.
b. Acuteness of the senses or organs of sense.
c888ælfred Boeth. xxxiv. §8 Ne heora scearpnesse nauht ᵹebetað to þære sceawunga þære soðan ᵹesælðe. 1604Jas. I Counterbl. to Tobacco (Arb.) 105 So loath will they be, to bee thought inferiour to their fellowes..in..sharpnesse of sight. 1709Berkeley Ess. Vision §80 Wks. 1871 I. 73 No exquisite formation of the eye, no peculiar sharpness of sight. 1835James Gipsy ii, The hearing of those whose safety often depends upon the sharpness of their ears.
c. Keenness (of observation).
1822Scott Peveril xiii, The utmost sharpness of attention which Julian applied, could not discover if Bridgenorth spoke seriously or ironically to the above purpose.
3. Pungency to the taste; acidity, sourness, tartness.
c1000Sax. Leechd. II. 224/22 Þæs ecedes afre scearpnes. a1023Wulfstan Hom. v. (1883) 35 Þæs sealtes scearpnesse. a1425tr. Arderne's Treat. Fistula, etc. 59 Emoroidez ar caused of scharpnes of blode and ouer mych hete brennyng þe blode. 1555Eden Decades ii. (Arb.) 110 These apples..haue a certeyne sweetnes myxt with a gentell sharpnes. 1662Charleton Myst. Vintners (1675) 155 The Sulphur..infects the whole mass of liquor with Sharpness or Acidity. 1701G. Stanhope Anselm's Medit. xvii. (1720) 348 Make me sometimes taste the sharpness of thy Vinegar. 1839Mrs. Kirkland in Griswold Prose Writers Amer. (1847) 464 Her vinegar is..the ne plus ultra of sharpness.
4. a. Severity, harshness in punishment; censure, rebuke, etc.; asperity in behaviour.
a1325Prose Psalter ii. 9 Þou schalt gouernen hem in Scharpnes. c1425Found. St. Bartholomew's (E.E.T.S.) 25 A certeyne bocheyr, Goderyke by name, A man of grete sharpnesse more than semyd hym. a1558Abp. Sandys Serm. xv. (1585) 262 The sharpenesse of his correction. 1606Shakes. Ant. & Cl. iii. iii. 38 Thou must not take my former sharpenesse ill. a1721Sheffield (Dk. Buckhm.) Wks. 1753 I. 75 Some did our follies with just sharpness blame. 1827Scott Surg. Dau. i, An eye of much sharpness and severity of expression. 1867Trollope Chron. Barset lxvii. II. 245 In spite of the sharpness of her tongue.
†b. Austerity, asceticism. Obs.
1340Ayenb. 187 Vele men makeþ to god sacrefices of uestinges, of peregrinages, of ssarpnesses of bodye. c1440Jacob's Well 10 Þou louedyst no scharpenesse of penaunce. 1450–1530Myrr. our Ladye 83 Penaunce..ys done in sorowe of harte and sharpenesse of body.
†c. Acrimony, exasperated condition. Obs.
1673Temple United Prov. v. 181 All the violence and sharpness, which accompanies the differences of Religion in other Countreys, seems to be appeased or softned here. a1715Burnet Own Time (1766) II. 217 He expressed a very Christian temper, without sharpness or resentment. 1733Neal Hist. Purit. II. 601 Such was the sharpness of men's spirits on both sides.
†d. Severity (of weather), keenness, intensity (of heat, cold, etc.). Obs.
1482Monk of Evesham (Arb.) 94 And yette y am constrayned ful sore to sofyr the scarpnes of colde. 1553Eden Treat. Newe Ind. (Arb.) 33 At whiche tyme ye sharpenes of winter exceadeth with them. 1662Gusman's Ephemeris B, It will not be common this Month [January] to see Women go with naked shoulders by reason of the Sharpnesse of the Air. 1712Lond. Gaz. No. 4971/1 The badness of the Roads, and the sharpness of the Season, have hindered the march. 1778Cook 3rd Voy. iv. ix. (1784) II. 455 The sharpness of the air..seemed to indicate some sudden change.
e. Severity, acuteness (of pain or sorrow); painfulness, hardship.
a1400Prymer, Te Deum (1895) 7 Whanne þou haddist ouercome þe scharpnesse of deeþ [L. mortis aculeo]. c1410Lydg. Life Our Lady lx. (1484) i v, For sharpenes of the sodayn smerte The chylde gan wepe. 1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de. W. 1531) 204 b, He suffred the sharpnes and smart of payne, ye suche as neuer was suffred. 1631Gouge God's Arrows ii. §24. 166 What need is it to shew the sharpnesse of this famine by things that want life? 1709Lond. Gaz. No. 4521/2 Our Loss has been very great, the Action having been so severe, and the sharpness of the whole having lain upon our Ship.
†5. Shrillness, high pitch (of voice). Obs. rare—1.
1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. v. xxiii. (Bodl. MS.), It is seide þat cause of scharpenes and of chaunging of voice is by chaungeing of age.
†6. Craving (of the stomach) for food. Obs.
1581W. Stafford Exam. Compl. i. (1876) 15 When we had eate somewhat to satisfie the sharpnesse of our stomackes. 1675H. Woolley Gentlew. Comp. 67 The sharpness of my Stomach shall never make me feed uncleanly.
†7. Steepness. Obs. rare—1.
1585T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. i. i. 1 The height and sharpnesse of the mount Rhodope. Ibid. iv. xxiii. 139 A mount of great highnesse and sharpnesse.
†8. Prickling sensation, smarting. Obs.
1694Salmon Bate's Dispens. (1713) 82/1 Inflammations, Pains, and Sharpness of the Eyes.
9. a. Distinctness of outline or impression.
1771Raper in Phil. Trans. LXI. 475 Three gold coins of Philip, which have all the sharpness of new money fresh from the mint. 1837Goring & Pritchard Microgr. 82 A picture whose sharpness and clearness is a maximum. 1884Macm. Mag Oct. 444/2 That word which still retains the sharpness of its stamp and milling. 1907J. A. Hodges Elem. Photogr. (ed. 6) 20 This question of definition, or sharpness of image.
b. Physical Sci. The extent to which a phenomenon, condition, etc., is sharp (sense 12 b).
1906G. Eichhorn Wireless Telegr. vi. 40 Wien clearly demonstrated the greater sharpness of resonance in loosely-coupled systems than in the simple system. 1921[see peakiness]. 1966Cotton & Wilkinson Adv. Inorg. Chem. (ed. 2) xxvii. 733 (caption) Note the greater sharpness of the solution spectra. |