hone

1
[ hohn ]
See synonyms for hone on Thesaurus.com
verb (used with object),honed, hon·ing.
  1. to make more acute or effective; improve; perfect: to hone one's skills.

  2. to sharpen on a whetstone with a fine, compact texture: to hone a carving knife.

  1. to enlarge or finish (a hole) using a precision tool with a mechanically rotated abrasive tip.

noun
  1. a whetstone of fine, compact texture for sharpening razors and other cutting tools.

  2. a precision tool with a mechanically rotated abrasive tip, for enlarging holes to precise dimensions.

Origin of hone

1
First recorded before 950; Middle English noun hone, hain “whetstone”; Old English hān “stone, boundary stone, rock”; cognate with Old Norse hein “hone”; akin to cone

Other words from hone

  • hon·er, noun

Other definitions for hone (2 of 2)

hone2
[ hohn ]

verb (used without object),honed, hon·ing.
  1. South Midland and Southern U.S. to yearn; long: to hone for the farm life; to hone after peach pie.

  2. Archaic. to moan and groan.

Origin of hone

2
First recorded in 1590–1600; from Anglo-French honer (unrecorded); Old French hogner “to grumble, growl,” from Germanic; compare Old Saxon hōnian “to abuse, revile”

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use hone in a sentence

  • Mowgli could see that neither wolf nor jackal had touched the hones, which were laid out naturally.

    The Second Jungle Book | Rudyard Kipling
  • Most of the razor hones used in the United States are imported.

    Shaving Made Easy | Anonymous

British Dictionary definitions for hone (1 of 2)

hone1

/ (həʊn) /


noun
  1. a fine whetstone, esp for sharpening razors

  2. a tool consisting of a number of fine abrasive slips held in a machine head, rotated and reciprocated to impart a smooth finish to cylinder bores, etc

verb
  1. (tr) to sharpen or polish with or as if with a hone

Origin of hone

1
Old English hān stone; related to Old Norse hein

usage For hone

Hone is sometimes wrongly used where home is meant: this device makes it easier to home in on (not hone in on) the target

British Dictionary definitions for hone (2 of 2)

hone2

/ (həʊn) /


verb(intr) dialect
  1. (often foll by for or after) to yearn or pine

  2. to moan or grieve

Origin of hone

2
C17: from Old French hogner to growl, probably of Germanic origin; compare Old High German hōnen to revile

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012