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Sharp   /ʃɑrp/   Listen
adjective
Sharp  adj.  (compar. sharper; superl. sharpest)  
1.
Having a very thin edge or fine point; of a nature to cut or pierce easily; not blunt or dull; keen. "He dies upon my scimeter's sharp point."
2.
Terminating in a point or edge; not obtuse or rounded; somewhat pointed or edged; peaked or ridged; as, a sharp hill; sharp features.
3.
Affecting the sense as if pointed or cutting, keen, penetrating, acute: to the taste or smell, pungent, acid, sour, as ammonia has a sharp taste and odor; to the hearing, piercing, shrill, as a sharp sound or voice; to the eye, instantaneously brilliant, dazzling, as a sharp flash.
4.
(Mus.)
(a)
High in pitch; acute; as, a sharp note or tone.
(b)
Raised a semitone in pitch; as, C sharp, which is a half step, or semitone, higher than C.
(c)
So high as to be out of tune, or above true pitch; as, the tone is sharp; that instrument is sharp. Opposed in all these senses to flat.
5.
Very trying to the feelings; piercing; keen; severe; painful; distressing; as, sharp pain, weather; a sharp and frosty air. "Sharp misery had worn him to the bones." "The morning sharp and clear." "In sharpest perils faithful proved."
6.
Cutting in language or import; biting; sarcastic; cruel; harsh; rigorous; severe; as, a sharp rebuke. "That sharp look." "To that place the sharp Athenian law Can not pursue us." "Be thy words severe, Sharp as merits but the sword forbear."
7.
Of keen perception; quick to discern or distinguish; having nice discrimination; acute; penetrating; sagacious; clever; as, a sharp eye; sharp sight, hearing, or judgment. "Nothing makes men sharper... than want."
8.
Eager in pursuit; keen in quest; impatient for gratification; keen; as, a sharp appetite.
9.
Fierce; ardent; fiery; violent; impetuous. "In sharp contest of battle." "A sharp assault already is begun."
10.
Keenly or unduly attentive to one's own interest; close and exact in dealing; shrewd; as, a sharp dealer; a sharp customer. "The necessity of being so sharp and exacting."
11.
Composed of hard, angular grains; gritty; as, sharp sand.
12.
Steep; precipitous; abrupt; as, a sharp ascent or descent; a sharp turn or curve.
13.
(Phonetics) Uttered in a whisper, or with the breath alone, without voice, as certain consonants, such as p, k, t, f; surd; nonvocal; aspirated. Note: Sharp is often used in the formation of self-explaining compounds; as, sharp-cornered, sharp-edged, sharp-pointed, sharp-tasted, sharp-visaged, etc.
Sharp practice, the getting of an advantage, or the attempt to do so, by a tricky expedient.
To brace sharp, or To sharp up (Naut.), to turn the yards to the most oblique position possible, that the ship may lie well up to the wind.
Synonyms: Keen; acute; piercing; penetrating; quick; sagacious; discerning; shrewd; witty; ingenious; sour; acid; tart; pungent; acrid; severe; poignant; biting; acrimonious; sarcastic; cutting; bitter; painful; afflictive; violent; harsh; fierce; ardent; fiery.


adverb
Sharp  adv.  
1.
To a point or edge; piercingly; eagerly; sharply. "The head (of a spear) full sharp yground." "You bite so sharp at reasons."
2.
Precisely; exactly; as, we shall start at ten o'clock sharp. (Colloq.)
Look sharp, attend; be alert. (Colloq.)


noun
Sharp  n.  
1.
A sharp tool or weapon. (Obs.) "If butchers had but the manners to go to sharps, gentlemen would be contented with a rubber at cuffs."
2.
(Mus.)
(a)
The character used to indicate that the note before which it is placed is to be raised a half step, or semitone, in pitch.
(b)
A sharp tone or note.
3.
A portion of a stream where the water runs very rapidly. (Prov. Eng.)
4.
A sewing needle having a very slender point; a needle of the most pointed of the three grades, blunts, betweens, and sharps.
5.
pl. Same as Middlings, 1.
6.
An expert. (Slang)


verb
Sharp  v. t.  (past & past part. sharped; pres. part. sharping)  
1.
To sharpen. (Obs.)
2.
(Mus.) To raise above the proper pitch; to elevate the tone of; especially, to raise a half step, or semitone, above the natural tone.


Sharp  v. i.  
1.
To play tricks in bargaining; to act the sharper.
2.
(Mus.) To sing above the proper pitch.





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


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"Sharp" Quotes from Famous Books



... bright ayre reflected on my sword, If the whole army of Navar had said As much to Philip, yet he would not stand. And thou but one, how dar'st thou prefer it, Knowing how sharp a Spurre doth pricke me on, The death of Burbon ...
— A Collection of Old English Plays, Vol. III • Various
... one of the Syracusans, one of the other Siceliots, and one of the allies; and also to the six hundred Syracusans forming the original garrison for this part of Epipolae. These at once advanced against the assailants and, falling in with Demosthenes and the Athenians, were routed by them after a sharp resistance, the victors immediately pushing on, eager to achieve the objects of the attack without giving time for their ardour to cool; meanwhile others from the very beginning were taking the counterwall of the Syracusans, which was abandoned by its garrison, and pulling down the battlements. ...
— The History of the Peloponnesian War • Thucydides
... and every day we spent all of our spare time with Nikolaus; and also added to it time which we (and he) stole from work and other duties, and this cost the three of us some sharp scoldings, and some threats of punishment. Every morning two of us woke with a start and a shudder, saying, as the days flew along, "Only ten days left;" "only nine days left;" "only eight;" "only seven." Always it was narrowing. Always Nikolaus was gay and happy, ...
— The Mysterious Stranger and Other Stories • Mark Twain
... he was going mad. A sharp pain shot across his forehead just above the right eyebrow. In the old days he had felt the same pain when he had overworked himself in preparing for his examinations at the Polytechnic School. With a bitter smile he asked himself if one ...
— Serge Panine, Complete • Georges Ohnet
... suggest out-door life as their source of inspiration. A good many of them—read as you lie in a birch canoe or seated on a stump in the woods—shrink to well-bred, comfortable parlor bards, who seem to you to have gotten their nature-lessons through plate-glass windows. The test is a sharp one, and will leave out some great names and let in some hardly known, or almost forgotten. Books to be read out of doors would make a curious catalogue, and would vary, as such lists must, with every thoughtful reader, while some ...
— Doctor and Patient • S. Weir Mitchell


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