sharpener

American  

[shahrp-uhn-er] / ˈʃɑrp ən ər /

noun

• sharpeners
  plural

1. a tool, device, or machine used to produce or restore a fine edge or point on blades, pencils, etc.

2. a person whose work is to restore a fine edge or point on things by means of such a tool or machine.

3. a person, activity, or thing that serves to hone or challenge a person's thinking, skill, etc.

---

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• sharpeners
  plural

---

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

sharpener sharpeners

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

Hwangrae Lee, from Korea, polished his pencil sharpener with a tissue.

From New York Times ● Nov. 3, 2023

"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

I stuck the first pencil in the sharpener and began to turn the crank.

From "Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key" by Jack Gantos

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

Beef tartare, for instance, weaves in sharpeners of chopped sun-dried tomatoes and aged pecorino cheese.

From Washington Post ● Oct. 18, 2019

The gas penetrated the air ducts, soaked the offices, got into drawers in the desks, and got inside pencil sharpeners in the drawers.

From "The Hot Zone" by Richard Preston

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---