sharpener
Americannoun
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a tool, device, or machine used to produce or restore a fine edge or point on blades, pencils, etc.
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a person whose work is to restore a fine edge or point on things by means of such a tool or machine.
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a person, activity, or thing that serves to hone or challenge a person's thinking, skill, etc.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Many favor the $147 pencil sharpener as the worst offender.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026
Don’t trust the gift recipient with a knife sharpener?
From Salon ● Dec. 17, 2024
"In atom-probe tomography, we start by sharpening a piece of the lunar sample into a very sharp tip, using a focused ion beam microscope, almost like a very fancy pencil sharpener," Greer said.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 23, 2023
"It's given me a little sharpener, a kick up the backside, that this is how I need to play my cricket, how I can be consistently useful in this group."
From BBC ● Feb. 20, 2023
When Dean Moran rang the doorbell I must've left the pencil in the sharpener.
From "Black Swan Green" by David Mitchell
In other rooms, colleagues arranged pencil sharpeners, water bottles and crayons in patterns, recording with depth-sensor cameras.
From Barron's ● Jun. 11, 2026
Home teams must follow a standardized list of hosting requirements; it includes providing table saws to cut sticks and exhaust for skate sharpeners.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 10, 2023
If you need some expert recs on sharpeners, we have 'em right here.
From Salon ● May 31, 2022
She sourced vintage parts, as she always had, from eBay — microscopes, pencil sharpeners, rotary phones, juicers, musical instruments — and grafted them on, with every piece serving a function.
From New York Times ● May 11, 2022
The top drawer was reserved for random items—handheld pencil sharpeners, school glue, masking tape, abnormally small screwdrivers, things like that.
From "As Brave As You" by Jason Reynolds
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
