hone1
[hohn]
- 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.
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- 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.
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Origin of hone1
before 950; Middle English (noun); Old English hān stone, rock; cognate with Old Norse hein hone; akin to cone
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
hone1
- 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
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- (tr) to sharpen or polish with or as if with a hone
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Word Origin
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
hone2
- (often foll by for or after) to yearn or pine
- to moan or grieve
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Word Origin
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 honers
hone
n.
"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.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper