c1350 Ipomadon 8413 (Kölbing) Wythe sperys, that were sharpe grovnde.

1412–20 J. Lydgate tr. Hist. Troy iv. 1014 I hadde of Hector swiche a mortal wounde, With a quarel sharpe whet & grounde.

1508 W. Dunbar Goldyn Targe (Chepman & Myllar) in Poems (1998) I. 187 Dredefull arowis grundyn scharp and square.

OE Soul & Body II (1936) 112 Gifer hatte se wyrm, þam þa geaflas beoð nædle scearpran.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Cymbeline (1623) i. iii. 19 To looke vpon him, till the diminution Of space, had pointed him sharpe as my Needle. View more context for this quotation

a1732 J. Gay New Song Similes in Poet. Wks. (1784) II. 116 Sharp as a needle are her words.

1836 D. Crockett Exploits & Adventures in Texas i. 20 A fellow..who in those parts was considered as sharp as a steel trap.

1848 W. M. Thackeray Vanity Fair lxiii. 571 Epigrams that were as sharp as razors.

1851 G. Meredith Love in Valley xv Sharp as a sickle is the edge of shade and shine.

1866 ‘G. Eliot’ Felix Holt I. i. 46 Denner..had a mind as sharp as a needle.

1912 Dial. Notes 3 589 They won't fool him; he's a sharp as tacks.

1976 National 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.

c1000 Sax. Leechd. II. 314 Genim þæs scearpan þistles moran.

1154 Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) anno 1137 [Hi] diden an scærp iren abuton þa mannes throte.

1297 R. Gloucester's Chron. (Rolls) 6794 Þe rose springþ of þe brer þat ssarp & kene is.

a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 16616 A crun apon his heued þai sett o scarpe tre þai wroght.

c1400 Brut ccix Men sette vppon her Heuedes chapelettes of sharpe netles.

1611 Bible (King James) Micah vii. 4 The most vpright is sharper then a thorne hedge.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Tempest (1623) iv. i. 180 Tooth'd briars, sharpe firzes, pricking gosse, & thorns. View more context for this quotation

1618 W. Lawson New Orchard & Garden xiii. 48 Sift the earth with coale ashes an ynch or two thicknes, and that is a plague to thẽ [worms], so is sharpe grauell.

1700 Moxon's Mech. Exercises: Bricklayers-wks. 8 They make use of the sharpest Sand they can get (that being best) for Morter.

1803 Gazetteer Scotl. at Calder The soil of the arable part is thin and sharp, but very fertile.

1857 T. Moore Handbk. Brit. Ferns (ed. 3) 26 Add to it an eighth part of clean but coarse sharp sand.

1868 F. H. Joynson Metals in Constr. 96 Sharp slag, 8 cwts.

1846 Raleigh Reg. & N. Carolina Gaz. 6 Jan. It does me good to see how you do run after the Whigs with that sharp stick of yourn.

1871 People (Indianapolis) 5 Feb. 3/4 The Homeopathic physicians throughout the country are after Dr. Van Aerman (Allopathist), Commissioner of pensions, with a sharp stick for his pronouncing them ineligible as examining surgeons of the Pension Department.

1920 Boston Globe 21 Nov. (Mag. section) 15/4 They say that the reason he wrote so much..is that his wife kept after him with a sharp stick.

1954 Pella (Iowa) Chron. 21 Oct. 6/5 The CIO..has turned the tables on the churches. It's after them with a sharp stick.

2005 Congress. Rec. 20 Oct. 23289/1 Anybody who is at the bottom of the pile should watch out for these guys, because they are coming after them with a sharp stick.

c888 Ælfred tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. xxxix. 4 Buton he hæbbe swa scearp andgit swaðær fyr.

c1000 Christ's Desc. Hell 76 Eala Gabrihel! hu þu eart gleaw & scearp.

c1200 Vices & Virtues 23 Þat ðu understande mid scarpe witte hwat hie bien.

1474 W. Caxton tr. Game & Playe of Chesse (1883) iii. vi. 131 Wherof cometh forgetenes of his mynde and destruction of alle quyk and sharp reson.

c1480 (a1400) St. Machor 670 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) II. 20 For þu ȝongare is þane I, scharpare of wyt & mare mychtty.

a1500 Lancelot of Laik (1870) 2886 In his consell wonder scharp and wys.

1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene ii. ix. sig. X2 He had a sharpe foresight, and working wit.

c1610–15 tr. Gregory of Nazianzus Life St. Gorgonia in C. Horstmann Lives Women Saints (1886) 161 What was more ingenious and sharp of witt than she.

1697 W. Dampier New Voy. around World xii. 337 Raja Laut is a very sharp man.

1705 J. Evelyn Diary (1955) V. 597 Dr. King, a Sharp ready man in politicks.

1837 T. Carlyle French Revol. II. v. vii. 331 Sharp Guadet transfixes you with cross-questions.

1870 E. Peacock Ralf Skirlaugh II. 147 A very sharp lad.

1580 Three Familiar Lett. in Spenser's Poet. Wks. (1912) 616 Master H[arvey]s short, but sharpe, and learned Iudgement of Earthquakes.

1623 W. Shakespeare & J. Fletcher Henry VIII ii. i. 15 He..alleadged Many sharpe reasons to defeat the Law. View more context for this quotation

1700 T. Brown Amusem. Serious & Comical xi. 152 Your Gentlemen that speak sharp and witty Things.

1851 R. A. Willmott Pleasures of Lit. (1857) xxi. 126 It was thus that..the sharp, quick sentence flashed from the lips of Buonarotti.

1968 Observer 14 Apr. 24/7 It was a sharp idea of the BBC's Religious Department, letting Malcolm Muggeridge wander round the Holy Land.

c1000 Sax. Leechd. II. 30 Sio syn biþ þy scearpre.

c1381 G. Chaucer Parl. Foules 331 The royal egle..That with his sharpe look perceth the sonne.

1599 J. Davies Nosce Teipsum 1 When their reasons eye was sharpe and cleere.

1630 tr. G. Botero Relations Famous Kingdomes World (rev. ed.) 8 The grey eye..is sharpest of sight.

1821 W. Scott Kenilworth III. vi. 90 The Queen's sharp eye soon distinguished Raleigh amongst them.

1894 R. D. Blackmore Perlycross I. x. 143 My ears are pretty sharp..and I heard you muttering.

1535 Bible (Coverdale) Lament. iv. 18 They laye so sharpe waite for vs, that we can not go safe vpon the stretes.

1584 R. Scot Discouerie Witchcraft xiii. xxiii. 324 The sharpest lookers on will saie it is in your other hand.

1827 P. Cunningham Two Years New S. Wales II. xxxiv. 345 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.

1888 A. Jessopp Coming of Friars iii. 158 The bishop kept a sharp look-out upon them.

1697 W. Dampier New Voy. around World viii. 228 They found that the Don had been too sharp for them.

1723 D. Defoe Hist. Col. Jack (ed. 2) 5 He was..sharp as a Street bred Boy must be.

1817 W. Scott Rob Roy I. vii. 161 They got a sharp Newcastle attorney.

1852 R. S. Surtees Mr. Sponge's Sporting Tour viii. xlv. 252 Among youths of his own age he was reckoned rather a sharp hand.

1856 C. Dickens Little Dorrit (1857) i. xxiii. 203 I have seen so much business done on sharp principles that..I am tired of them.

1859 C. J. Lever Davenport Dunn lii All of them ready to do a sharp thing.

1880 L. Stephen Alexander Pope iv. 94 He..was accordingly pretty sharp at making a bargain with a publisher.

1903 ‘T. Collins’ Such is Life vi. 223 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!

1930 W. S. Maugham Cakes & Ale x. 116 You're so sharp you'll cut yourself if you don't look out.

1968 J. Fleming Kill or Cure xiv. 189 He was as sharp as a bag of monkeys, that sharp he'd cut himself.

c1000 Ags. Hom. (Assmann) 61/244 Ac ða þa hi ne dydon nane dædbote, Þa sende him god to þone scearpan here Romaniscre leode.

a1272 Luue Ron 69 in Old Eng. Misc. 95 Hwer is..Ector wiþ his scharpe meyne.

?1473 W. Caxton tr. R. Le Fèvre Recuyell Hist. Troye (1894) I. lf. 122^v That men of armes shold haue no wyues to thende that they myght be more sharpe & fiers in the warre.

c1480 (a1400) St. John Evangelist 501 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) I. 123 Rycht sa manis deuocione þat quhile fra contemplacione Is drawyne, sal þe scharpar be.

c1540 (?a1400) Destr. Troy 1780 Then he shope hym to ship in a sharp haste.

1605 E. Sandys Relation State of Relig. Z 3 Time-servers, who..follow Christ vpon a sharpe devotion, but to his bread, not to his doctrine.

c1381 G. Chaucer Parl. Foules 2 Thassay so hard, so sharp the conquering.

a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Gött.) l. 7753 Ful scharp [Vesp. snaip] it was, þat stour and snell, All fledd þe folk of israell.

a1500 (c1425) Andrew of Wyntoun Oryg. Cron. Scotl. (Nero) vii. l. 1982 Betweyn þis Rollande of Galoway [And] Kylkpatrik a batel fel Was don, bath sar, scharpe and snel.

1508 W. Dunbar Goldyn Targe (Chepman & Myllar) in Poems (1998) I. 189 Thair scharp assayes mycht do no dures To me.

a1586 Sir P. Sidney Arcadia (1590) i. vi. sig. E3 Then began the fight to grow most sharpe.

1610 P. Holland tr. W. Camden Brit. i. 816 The fight continued sharpe and hote on both parts.

1761 D. Hume Hist. Eng. II. xxvii. 131 Huntley..after a sharp conflict, put to flight the left wing of the English.

1845 M. Pattison in Christian Remembrancer Jan. 68 The contest between good and evil becomes sharp and deadly.

1890 Spectator 3 May Though the discussion will be sharp, it will be short.

1377 W. Langland Piers Plowman B. xviii. 409 ‘After sharpe shoures’, quod pees ‘moste shene is þe sonne’.

a1400 Minor Poems from Vernon MS 716/33 Scharpe wawes þat Schip has sayled.

c1422 T. Hoccleve Learn to Die 556 Whan deeth, as tempest sharp & violent, With woful trouble hem shal vexe & trauaill.

1585 T. Washington tr. N. de Nicolay Nauigations Turkie ii. xii. 46 A sharpe showre of rayne, whiche contynued vntyll the morning.

1607 E. Topsell Hist. Foure-footed Beastes 341 Of diseases, some be called long, and some sharpe and short.

1486 Bk. 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.

1574 St. Avstens Manuell in Certaine Prayers S. Augustines Medit. sig. Sv I am come with a sharpe stomacke, let me not go away fastyng.

1575 G. Turberville Bk. Faulconrie 133 Then set hir sharpe against an euening, and go out to seeke some game.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Taming of Shrew (1623) iv. i. 176 My Faulcon now is sharpe, and passing emptie. View more context for this quotation

1642 T. Fuller Holy State iii. xxv. 231 Nowa~dayes, does not wealth make them lazy, and poverty keep them painfull? like Hawks they flie best when sharp.

1678 R. L'Estrange tr. Of Happy Life xxiv. 317 in Seneca's Morals Abstracted (1679) 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.

1771 O. Goldsmith Haunch of Venison 5 Though my stomach was sharp, I could scarce help regretting, To spoil such a delicate picture by eating.

1655 I. Walton Compl. Angler (ed. 2) vi. 178 All fish that live in clear and sharp streames.

1787 T. Best Conc. Treat. Angling (ed. 2) 36 From that time they delight to be in sharp streams, and such as are very swift.

1875 Encycl. Brit. II. 32/2 [article Angling] A deep eddy off some sharp stream.

1843 R. J. Graves Syst. Clin. Med. xiv. 161 Pulse 120, sharp; slightly dicrotous.

1897 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. III. 621 The pulse becomes small, sharp, wiry or thready.

c1435 in C. L. Kingsford Chron. London (1905) 2 This same yere was a Riht Sharpe Wynter.

1560 J. Daus tr. J. Sleidane Commentaries f. cxcvij In the most sharpe time of winter.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Tempest (1623) i. ii. 255 Thou..thinkst it much..To run vpon the sharpe winde of the North. View more context for this quotation

1722 D. Defoe Jrnl. Plague Year 5 With sharp tho' moderate Winds.

1762 L. Sterne Let. 15 Mar. in Lett. 1739–64 (2009) 238 There has been no snow here—but the weather has been sharp.

1858 N. Hawthorne Jrnl. 17 Jan. in French & Italian Notebks. (1980) 45 Keen and cutting air—sharp as a razor.

1894 H. Caine Manxman v. viii Though the air was sharp, he had been carrying his cloak over his arm.

1942 L. V. Berrey & M. Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Slang §768 Hot, sharp, ahead of schedule.

1945 Transit 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’.

1977 Mod. Railways Dec. 480/2 Certain of the intermediate schedules are quite sharp.

c1000 Sax. Leechd. III. 162 He bið scarp & biter & swiðe wær on his wordum.

a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 3577 So wurð he wroð, o mode sarp, His tables broken dun he is warp.

?c1550 tr. P. Vergil Eng. Hist. (1846) I. 147 He was verie sharpe in manners, sterne of nature, exceading crewell.

1638 R. Baker tr. J. L. G. de Balzac New Epist. II. 84 Whether he be of these sharpe and soure ones that wouid [sic] take from heaven its starres, and from the earth its flowers.

1670 S. Wilson Lassels's Voy. Italy (new ed.) ii. 156 The Eccho in the well, which answers you indeed, but like a sharp scold, too quick, and short.

?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 158 Fweord [read sweord] & cnif eiðer baðe ha beoð schearpe & kerewinde word.

c1386 G. Chaucer Wife of Bath's Prol. 14 Lo! which a sharp word for the nones..Iesus..Spak in repreve of the Samaritan.

?1473 W. Caxton tr. R. Le Fèvre Recuyell Hist. Troye (1894) II. lf. 326^v Eneas..answered to the kynge wordes sharpe and poynant ynowhe.

1569 R. Grafton Chron. II. 984 King Henry wrote to him an aunswere with verie sharpe and grieuous wordes reprouing his vntruth.

1589 G. Puttenham Arte Eng. Poesie i. xxxi. 50 Skelton a sharpe Satirist.

1620 N. Brent tr. P. Sarpi Hist. Councel of Trent viii. 728 The Cardinall of Loraine also wrote a sharpe letter to the Pope.

a1704 T. Brown 1st Satyr Persius Imitated in Wks. (1707) I. i. 76 Nor sharp Juvenals stronger Verse, Perverted into Dogrel Farce.

a1720 W. Sewel Hist. Quakers (1795) I. ii. 139 Yet they were not for using sharp language against such teachers.

1832 Ld. Tennyson May Queen iv, in Poems (new ed.) 91 He thought of that sharp look, mother, I gave him yesterday.

1868 E. A. Freeman Hist. Norman Conquest (1876) II. App. 677 Tostig has sharp words with his brother.

a1340 R. Rolle Psalter ix. 25 To punysch him in sharp & bittire pyne.

a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Fairf. 14) l. 9103 Sa sare and sharpe martiring. was neuer sene on siche a king.

1533 J. Gau tr. C. Pedersen Richt Vay sig. Mvi Supposz thow may richtuslie be ane scherp iuge apone wsz.

1576 G. Gascoigne Complaynt of Phylomene in Steele Glas sig. N.iij But in hir minde a sharpe reuenge, She fully did reserue.

1663 S. Patrick Parable of Pilgrim (1687) xxx. 365 This sluggish temper must be banished by a rigorous and sharp penance.

1720 W. Sewel Hist. Quakers (1795) I. Pref. 16 Who will ere long fall under a sharper persecution.

1851 A. Helps Compan. Solitude vi. 96 Those we have lived with are the sharpest judges of our conduct.

1561 in Exch. Rolls Scot. XIX. 475 The said Thomas not to be scharp upoun the said Alexander for payment of the said soum.

1596 J. Dalrymple tr. J. Leslie Hist. Scotl. (1888) I. 161 He was so scharpe vpon his abuses.

1678 T. Rymer Trag. Last Age 32 Polynices seems ill treated, and his Brother is much too sharp upon him.

1713 J. Addison in Guardian 16 July 2/1 One of those Untucker'd Ladies whom you were so sharp upon.

1833 E. Bulwer-Lytton Godolphin I. iv. 34 You are sharp on me, young Sir.

c1000 Sax. Leechd. II. 206 Þonne biþ þæt sar scearpre þonne þæs welmes sar þe on þære lifre selfre beoð.

a1122 Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) ann. 1086 & syððan com se scearpa hungor.

c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 10950 Heo weoren swiðe iharmede mid scærpen þan hungre.

a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 2989 Gnattes..Smale to sen and sarp on bite.

1340 R. Rolle Pricke of Conscience 6563 Þe ferthe [payne of helle] es hunger sharpe and strang.

c1386 G. Chaucer Parson's Tale ⁋130 This sorwe..shal been hevy and grevous, and ful sharpe and poinant in herte.

1477 W. Caxton tr. R. Le Fèvre Hist. Jason (1913) 156 A sorowe moche aygre and sharp.

1549 Bk. Common Prayer (STC 16267) Celebr. Holye Communion f. xcix The sharp and painful death of the crosse.

?1566 J. Phillip Commodye Pacient & Meeke Grissill sig. C.i^v The bitter pangs of death, Whose gripes most sharp semd to close my breath.

1599 W. Shakespeare Romeo & Juliet v. i. 41 Sharpe miserie had worne him to the bones. View more context for this quotation

a1627 J. Beaumont Bosworth-field (1629) 4 The sharpe conclusion of a sad successe.

1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics iii, in tr. Virgil Wks. 120 The nightly Wolf..now plots not on the Fold. Tam'd with a sharper Pain. View more context for this quotation

1722 W. Wollaston Relig. of Nature ix. 216 Such injoyments..are followed many times by sharp reflections and bitter penances in the rear.

1843 R. J. Graves Syst. Clin. Med. xxvii. 340 Sharp, lancinating pains were felt most frequently in the knee.

1898 T. Watts-Dunton Aylwin xi. iii A pang at my heart as sharp as though there had been a reasonable hope till now.

a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 5876 And qua ne dos noght yur bidding, Wit scarp scurges yee þam suing.

c1450 Mirk's Festial 44 To ȝeue hym dyscyplyn apon his bare backe wyth a scharpe ȝerde.

1340 Ayenbite (1866) 165 Þe oþer del is zuo þet hi makeþ..þet lyf þet zuo moche sseweþ ssarp an dreduol to chiese.

1577 T. Vautrollier tr. M. Luther Comm. Epist. to Galathians (new ed.) (v. 19) f. 270^v The Carthusians or Charterhouse monks, whose order..is of all other the straitest and sharpest.

1588 R. Parke tr. J. G. de Mendoza Hist. Kingdome of China 254 They were certaine religious men who liued in common, a sharpe and asper life.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Cymbeline (1623) iii. iii. 31 Hap'ly this life is best, (If quiet life be best) sweeter to you That haue a sharper knowne. View more context for this quotation

c1000 Sax. Leechd. I. 354 Nim gate tord meng wið scear~pum ecede.

1377 W. Langland Piers Plowman B. xx. 304 Shrifte shope sharpe salue and made men do penaunce For her mysdedes.

c1405 (c1387–95) G. Chaucer Canterbury Tales Prol. (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 354 Wo was his cook, but if his Sauce weere Poynaunt and sharp.

1477 T. Norton Ordinall of Alchimy v, in E. Ashmole Theatrum Chem. Britannicum (1652) 73 As Sharpe tast, Unctuous, and Sower.

1546 J. Heywood Dialogue Prouerbes Eng. Tongue ii. ii. sig. G This medicine, thus ministred is sharpe and colde.

1577 B. Googe tr. C. Heresbach Foure Bks. Husbandry iv. f. 187^v The like quantitie of Manna kneded togeather, and geuen them in sharpe Wine.

1584 Veron Lat. Eng. Dict. Pallacana, a sharpe onion causing the eies to water.

1617 F. Moryson Itinerary i. 252 Pomegranates, Olives, Bread, and sharpe Wine.

1639 J. Taylor Divers Crabtree Lect. 167 I can weepe no more, unlesse I get a good sharpe Onion in my handkerchiefe.

1641 J. Murrell Cookerie (ed. 5) 21 To boyle a Chine of Mutton or Veale, in sharp broth.

1661 R. Boyle Sceptical Chymist iv. 254 As soon as I found the Lixivium sufficiently sharp upon the tongue, I reserv'd it for use.

1713 H. Felton Diss. Reading Classics 145 Every body can tell Sweet from Bitter, what is Sharp, or Sour, or Vapid, or Nauseous.

1732 J. Arbuthnot Pract. Rules of Diet i. 262 What renders the Blood acrimonious or sharp.

1815 J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art II. 429 Arsenic acid..has a sharp caustic taste.

1853 A. Soyer Pantropheon 71 If you prefer a sharper sauce, mix well some green mint with rue.

1668 R. Steele Husbandmans Calling (1672) vi. 152 Drudging at the harrow, that's sharp; but sweeping down the wheat, that's sweet.

1742 R. Challoner Mem. Missionary Priests II. 6 Although I shall have a sharp Dinner, yet I trust in Jesus Christ I shall have a most sweet Supper.

1886 E. Lynn Linton Paston Carew III. iii. 57 That sharp sauce which carries costs and awards damages.

1660 F. Brooke tr. V. Le Blanc World Surveyed 18 The water was sharp and hard.

c1660 J. Evelyn Diary anno 1644 (1955) II. 153 A fountayne of sharp Waters, which they report wholesome against the Stone.

1742 W. Ellis London & Country Brewer (ed. 4) I. 28 Water lukewarm put over at first with the Bowl, but soon after sharp or boiling Water.

1772 T. Simpson Compl. Vermin-killer 15 If you sow sharp lime with the grain.

1886 Times 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.

1940 J. O'Hara Pal Joey 97 I sound like everything was sharp.

1963 in C. Booker Neophiliacs (1969) viii. 186 WIP'S opens late february london's sharpest nightclub.

1979 Arizona Daily Star 5 Aug. (Advt. section) 20/4 The home is sharp with four bedrooms.

1979 Arizona Daily Star 5 Aug. (Advt. section) 20/3 Sharp and roomy 4 bdrm split plan with spacious modern kitchen.

1944 C. Calloway Hepsters Dict. Sharp.., neat, smart, tricky. Ex., ‘That hat is sharp as a tack.’

1956 ‘B. Holiday’ & W. Dufty Lady sings Blues i. 20 I was always the sharpest kid in the block when I was dressed up.

1962 Observer 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.

1969 W. Ash Take-off iv. 57 When Jacques turned up, he was looking pretty sharp..in the sort of dark suit which..looks expensive.

1977 N. Marsh Last Ditch iii. 55 Louis..looked almost embarrassingly smooth in breeches, boots, sharp hacking-jacket and gloves.

1970 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 28 Sept. 27/4 (advt.) Chevrolet convertible, fully equipped, a real sharp car.

1974 Anderson (S. Carolina) Independent 19 Apr. 10 b/6 (advt.) V-8, automatic power steering, electric seats..one of the sharpest around.

1977 Drive Sept. 16/1 The Saab interior, however, is drab—not sharp at all.

1390 J. Gower Confessio Amantis III. 90 Nou scharpe notes and nou softe.

1420–2 J. Lydgate Story of Thebes i. 205 Be vertue only of the werbles sharpe That he made in Mercuries harpe.

1604 E. Grimeston tr. J. de Acosta Nat. & Morall Hist. Indies v. xxix. 418 A flute of earth, having a very sharpe sound.

1687 J. Dryden Song St. Cecilia's Day v Sharp Violins proclaim Their jealous Pangs, and Desperation.

1774 O. Goldsmith Hist. Earth IV. 9 Their voice is not so sharp as the note of some other animals.

1810 W. Scott Lady of Lake iii. 111 A sharp and shrieking echo gave, Coir-Uriskin, thy goblin cave!

1866 J. G. Whittier Maids of Attitash 20 The wood-bird's plaintive cry, The locust's sharp reply.

1871 R. Ellis tr. Catullus Poems lxiv. 262 A sharp shrill tinkle.

1589 G. Puttenham Arte Eng. Poesie ii. vi. 65 To that which was highest lift vp and most eleuate or shrillest in the eare, they gaue the name of the sharpe accent, to the lowest and most base because it seemed to fall downe rather then to rise vp, they gaue the name of the heauy accent, and that other which seemed in part to lift vp and in part to fall downe, they called the circumflex, or compast accent: and if new termes were not odious, we might very properly call him the (windabout) for so is the Greek word.

1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Accent aigu, a sharpe accent marked thus ´, and much vsed.

1612 J. Brinsley Posing of Parts f. 45^v Euery Noune Substantiue common, increasing sharpe or long in the Genitiue case is the feminine Gender.

1746 W. Tans'ur New Musical Gram. 73 Observe, to Tune all Sharp-Thirds, as sharp as the Ear will admit.

1783 H. Cowley Bold Stroke for Husband ii. iii. 18 Trying semibreves in G sharp, has made me as flat as —.

1848 E. F. Rimbault First Bk. Pianoforte 19 The black key which lies Between C and D, is called C-sharp or D-flat.

1694 W. Holder Treat. Harmony viii. 198 The Differences of those we call Flat, or Sharp Keys; The Sharp, which take the Greater Intervals within Diapason, as 3ds, 6ths, and 7ths. Major; are more Brisk and Airy.

1737 tr. J.-P. Rameau Treat. Music xxxiv. 116 Chromatick may be practised in sharp Keys, upon the sharp Third to a Governing-note.

1654 J. Playford Breefe Introd. Skill Musick i. 4 B Duralis or B sharp.

1340 R. Rolle Pricke of Conscience 820 Hys nese, at þe poynt, es sharp and smalle.

1561 J. Hollybush tr. H. Brunschwig Most Excellent Homish Apothecarye f. 23 [Tokens of death.] When..the nose waxeth sharpe.

1613 S. Purchas Pilgrimage iv. xiii. 413 Long and sharpe chins.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry V (1623) ii. iii. 16 His Nose was as sharpe as a Pen. View more context for this quotation

1712 J. Morton Nat. Hist. Northants. 106 Turbinated Shells.., some with a broader, others with a narrower and sharper Spire.

1785 W. Cowper Task iii. 157 Travel nature up To the sharp peak of her sublimest height.

1821 W. Scott Kenilworth II. v. 115 A perpetual blush, which occupied rather the sharp nose than the thin cheek of this personage.

c1420 Two Cookery Bks. 38 Take blaunchid Almaundys, & kerf hem long, smal, & scharpe.

1486 Bk. St. Albans, Her. d vii He berith pale crokyt and sharpe of Sable and Syluer.

1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 266/1 Scharpe ende of the moone, corne.

1617 F. Moryson Itinerary i. 142 With a long visage and a little sharpe beard upon the chin.

1686 A. Wood Life & Times (1894) III. 191 Tuesday, between 11 and 1 a sharp or new moone was seene in the skies.

1687 A. Lovell tr. J. de Thévenot Trav. into Levant ii. 85 A heap sharp at the top like a Sugar-Loaf.

1725 D. Defoe New Voy. round World ii. 85 We had..gone up upon a pretty sharp Ascent.

1785 W. Cowper Task i. 326 Hence the declivity is sharp and short, And such the re-ascent.

1877 T. H. Huxley Physiography xviii. 313 A very sharp rise leads from the Pacific to the range of the Andes.

1709 W. Dampier Contin. Voy. New-Holland i. 47 I would have..hal'd my Ship ashore..but my Ship being sharp, I did not dare to do it.

1721 J. Perry Acct. Stopping Daggenham Breach 115 Ships, more especially such as are sharp and built for Sailing.

1815 W. Burney Falconer's New Universal Dict. Marine (rev. ed.) Sharp-Bottom, is synonymous with a sharp floor, and used in contradistinction to a flat floor.

1886 Encycl. 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.

1832 Ld. Tennyson Death of Old Year in Poems (new ed.) 157 His face is growing sharp and thin.

1865 J. G. Whittier Changeling 29 My face grows sharp with the torment.

1675 A. Browne Ars Pictoria (ed. 2) App. 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.].

1815 J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art II. 809 The plaster..hardens in a few minutes, and takes a very sharp impression.

1855 D. T. Ansted in Orr's Circle Sci.: Inorg. Nature 207 The chiselled margins of the pillars and cornices of the latter, are still as sharp as when first carved.

1856 A. P. Stanley Sinai & Palestine (1858) ii. 133 Those who..are brought into the sharpest geographical contrast.

1883 J. 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.

1895 G. Saintsbury Corrected Impressions 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.

1899 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. VIII. 921 With regard to the first three forms [of drug eruption] no sharp lines can be drawn.

1921 Daily Colonist (Victoria, Brit. Columbia) 6 Apr. 5/1 (advt.) Negatives which are exceptionally clear and ‘sharp’ make splendid enlargements.

1961 G. 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.

1979 SLR Camera Jan. 42/3 Although we did not shoot our optical test target we can say that this is a very sharp lens.