sharpener
Americannoun
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sharpeners
plural
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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:
What she needs is a good knife sharpener.
From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2026
Many favor the $147 pencil sharpener as the worst offender.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026
"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
An electric knife sharpener is similar to a pencil sharpener — it simply obliterates the old edge and creates a new one.
From Salon ● Jun. 25, 2022
“Very well, you may use the pencil sharpener on my desk.”
From "The Mysterious Benedict Society" by Trenton Lee Stewart
In other rooms, colleagues arranged pencil sharpeners, water bottles and crayons in patterns, recording with depth-sensor cameras.
From Barron's ● Jun. 11, 2026
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 House Administration Committee is doing a lot more these days than ensuring new member offices received their full allotment of pencil sharpeners.
From Slate ● Mar. 19, 2021
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.
