Sharps

[ shahrps ]

noun

1. a single-shot, lever-action breechloader rifle patented in the U.S. in 1848 and adopted by the U.S. military in the 1850s.

Word History and Origins

Origin of Sharps¹

After Christian Sharps (1811–74), U.S. gunsmith, who invented it

Example Sentences

Feather had recorded as a pianist, and although he would never put Oscar Peterson out of business, he knew his sharps and flats.

From The Daily Beast

I shuffle through the sheet music, avoiding tunes in keys with more than two sharps or flats, until I hit on “Old Shanghai.”

From The Daily Beast

We waste untold time and untold millions of dollars on a tedious fixation with blades and sharps.

From The Daily Beast

Beware of the cardroom and the poker sharps who travel on the great liners.

From Project Gutenberg

The decoration on the inside of the cover is a boating scene, the keys are of light wood, the sharps being black.

From Project Gutenberg

Moreover, the signature of the music  as indicated by the sharps or flats changes the whole situation.

From Project Gutenberg

But there is a kind of paper—smooth, slippery, insidious—that prompts both the Sharps and the Stubbs to evil ways.

From Project Gutenberg

These are represented by the black keys upon the piano and organ and are known as sharps and flats.

From Project Gutenberg