hone

[hohn]

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noun

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

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

verb (used with object), honed, hon·ing.

to sharpen on a hone: to hone a carving knife.

to enlarge or finish (a hole) with a hone.

to make more acute or effective; improve; perfect: to hone one's skills.

Origin of hone

before 950; Middle English (noun); Old English hān stone, rock; cognate with Old Norse hein hone; akin to cone

Related formshon·er, noun

hone

[hohn]

verb (used without object), honed, hon·ing.

South Midland and Southern U.S. to yearn; long: to hone for the farm life; to hone after peach pie.

Archaic. to moan and groan.

Origin of hone

1590–1600; < Anglo-French *honer; Old French hogner to grumble, growl < Germanic; compare Old Saxon hōnian to abuse, revile

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for hone

whet, acuminate, edge, file, grind

Examples from the Web for hone

Contemporary Examples of hone

Each poet needs only learn to hear his own voice, and hone it, and present it.
What the Forward Prize Doesn’t Recognize About Poets
Mandy Kahn
July 13, 2014
Then in 2007 he had joined the pro-Kremlin, pro “Eurasian” youth group, Nashi, to hone his militancy.
Putin’s Men in Ukraine: We’re Not Giving In
Anna Nemtsova
April 18, 2014
Kennan had a passionate, lifelong interest in the craft of writing, and the diary was clearly a place to hone his craft.
The Man Who Knew Russia Best: George Kennan’s Revealing Diaries
James A. Warren
March 10, 2014
Richardson says that his frothy, buttered coffee is “the best part of his morning,” helping him “hone in on important tasks.”
Hack Your Health: 6 Biohacks That Might Surprise You
DailyBurn
December 4, 2013
At first he balked when his record company suggested that he work with established songwriters to hone his compositions.
Jake Bugg Isn’t the New Bob Dylan. He’s the Male Adele.
Andrew Romano
November 19, 2013

Historical Examples of hone

English name for a stone appears in Hone, now used only of a whetstone.
The Romance of Names
Ernest Weekley
After the trials, it is manifest that Hone was to be unassailed, do what he might.
A Budget of Paradoxes, Volume I (of II)
Augustus De Morgan
When Hone was held to bail it was seen that a crisis was at hand.
A Budget of Paradoxes, Volume I (of II)
Augustus De Morgan
They are published by Hone himself, who I should have said was a publisher as well as was to be.
A Budget of Paradoxes, Volume I (of II)
Augustus De Morgan
The knife should be sharpened from time to time on the stone or hone.
The Book of Sports:
William Martin

British Dictionary definitions for hone

hone

noun

a fine whetstone, esp for sharpening razors

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

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

Word Origin for hone

Old English hān stone; related to Old Norse hein

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

hone

verb (intr) dialect

(often foll by for or after) to yearn or pine

to moan or grieve

Word Origin for hone

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

Word Origin and History for hone

"whetstone," Old English han "stone, rock, (boundary) stone," in Middle English "whetstone" (early 14c.), from Proto-Germanic *haino (cf. Old Norse hein "hone"). The verb is 1788, from the noun. Related: Honed; honing.