hone

¹ American  

[hohn] / hoʊn /

verb (used with object)

honed, honing

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.

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

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noun

• hones
  plural

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.

hone ² American  

[hohn] / hoʊn /

verb (used without object)

honed, honing

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.

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hone ¹ British  

/ 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

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verb

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

hone ² British  

/ həʊn /

verb

1. to yearn or pine

2. to moan or grieve

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Usage

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

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• honer
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• hones
  plural

Etymology

Origin of hone¹

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

Origin of hone²

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”

Explanation

The verb hone means to sharpen skills. When you practice shooting baskets every day after school, you are honing your skills as a basketball player. Hone, the verb, literally means to sharpen with a hone, a whetstone used to sharpen cutting tools. Use hone to describe someone working hard, perfecting or sharpening skills, as in "She is honing her skills as an actress by working in community theater." Hone, which rhymes with phone, is from the Old English word, han, meaning "stone, rock."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

hone hones honed honing

It also allowed him to hone his guitar skills and make connections within London’s burgeoning blues scene.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 2026

The younger Burrows said growing up on radio comedies helped him hone his ear for humor.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 19, 2026

We also need to support lifetime training to help workers hone the skills that can’t be automated or substituted with AI.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 4, 2026

That is just one of the methods the meticulous Aston Villa boss uses to hone the mental discipline required at football's highest level.

From BBC ● May 20, 2026

I bit my knuckle to hone the fear into something real and took deep breaths, steadying myself.

From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros

Even as Cursor hones in on Composer, the company’s model-agnostic platform remains a key selling point, according to Ram Bala, professor of AI and analytics at Santa Clara University.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 19, 2026

Even as China hones its formal sanctions toolkit, it still turns to informal methods when legal and political justification is thin.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 30, 2025

The band hones their act with tiny club gigs, and by New Year’s Eve, lands a support slot on the bill with Blue Öyster Cult.

From Seattle Times ● Dec. 1, 2023

As with most geniuses, he was complicated, and “Maestro,” Bradley Cooper’s long-in-the-works biopic, hones in on that knottiness in its focus on Bernstein’s marriage to Chilean-born actress Felicia Montealegre.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 30, 2023

When he wasn’t digging up old hones, Archie Brubaker was teaching at universities in the East.

From "Stargirl" by Jerry Spinelli

It is a technique honed in all forms of cricket at the highest level.

From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2026

One of the marvels of this novel is how effortlessly such sentences land, despite being honed to perfection.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 20, 2026

"I have really honed in on my game and realised I don't have to play a spectacular point every time to win," said Gauff.

From BBC ● Jul. 9, 2026

Some corporate tech leaders are dipping into their toolbox for cost-control strategies honed during the rise of cloud computing.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 30, 2026

The supporting cast was mostly disenfranchised Indians, Mexicans, and cowpunchers, all of whom possessed horsemanship and livestock skills honed on the vanishing frontier.

From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand

Schools sharpen students’ thinking and research skills, he noted, but higher education hasn’t been as good at honing students’ applied skills — and for AI, that includes knowing when to responsibly use the technology.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 22, 2026

Worries that artificial intelligence will be able to perform many of the skills graduates spent years honing are running high.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026

From the age of seven, the star began honing his craft at the 3 Hammers Golf Complex under the watchful eye of pro Darren Prosser.

From BBC ● May 18, 2026

Trainer Cherie DeVaux has spent decades honing her skills.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 6, 2026

I spent three years at Miss Preston’s honing my combat skills, refining my manners, getting an education.

From "Dread Nation" by Justina Ireland

Related Words

• whet