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hone1

[hohn]
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noun
  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.
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verb (used with object), honed, hon·ing.
  1. to sharpen on a hone: to hone a carving knife.
  2. to enlarge or finish (a hole) with a hone.
  3. 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
Related formshon·er, noun

hone2

[hohn]
verb (used without object), honed, hon·ing.
  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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Origin of hone2

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. 2018

Related Words

whetacuminateedgefilegrind

Examples from the Web for honing

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • He was keen for the open stretches, honing to be gone down the wind.

  • For that matter, I shouldnt wonder if you were honing to get rid of me.

  • This cannot be done by stropping, but is accomplished only by the process known as honing.

  • We venture to assert, however, that honing a razor is at least as easy as stropping it.

  • If the honing be carried too far, a wire edge will be produced, and this must be removed.

British Dictionary definitions for honing

hone1

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
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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

verb (intr) dialect
  1. (often foll by for or after) to yearn or pine
  2. 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 honing

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