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Sharp   /ʃɑrp/   Listen
adjective
Sharp  adj.  (compar. sharper; superl. sharpest)  
1.
Having a very thin edge or fine point; of a nature to cut or pierce easily; not blunt or dull; keen. "He dies upon my scimeter's sharp point."
2.
Terminating in a point or edge; not obtuse or rounded; somewhat pointed or edged; peaked or ridged; as, a sharp hill; sharp features.
3.
Affecting the sense as if pointed or cutting, keen, penetrating, acute: to the taste or smell, pungent, acid, sour, as ammonia has a sharp taste and odor; to the hearing, piercing, shrill, as a sharp sound or voice; to the eye, instantaneously brilliant, dazzling, as a sharp flash.
4.
(Mus.)
(a)
High in pitch; acute; as, a sharp note or tone.
(b)
Raised a semitone in pitch; as, C sharp, which is a half step, or semitone, higher than C.
(c)
So high as to be out of tune, or above true pitch; as, the tone is sharp; that instrument is sharp. Opposed in all these senses to flat.
5.
Very trying to the feelings; piercing; keen; severe; painful; distressing; as, sharp pain, weather; a sharp and frosty air. "Sharp misery had worn him to the bones." "The morning sharp and clear." "In sharpest perils faithful proved."
6.
Cutting in language or import; biting; sarcastic; cruel; harsh; rigorous; severe; as, a sharp rebuke. "That sharp look." "To that place the sharp Athenian law Can not pursue us." "Be thy words severe, Sharp as merits but the sword forbear."
7.
Of keen perception; quick to discern or distinguish; having nice discrimination; acute; penetrating; sagacious; clever; as, a sharp eye; sharp sight, hearing, or judgment. "Nothing makes men sharper... than want."
8.
Eager in pursuit; keen in quest; impatient for gratification; keen; as, a sharp appetite.
9.
Fierce; ardent; fiery; violent; impetuous. "In sharp contest of battle." "A sharp assault already is begun."
10.
Keenly or unduly attentive to one's own interest; close and exact in dealing; shrewd; as, a sharp dealer; a sharp customer. "The necessity of being so sharp and exacting."
11.
Composed of hard, angular grains; gritty; as, sharp sand.
12.
Steep; precipitous; abrupt; as, a sharp ascent or descent; a sharp turn or curve.
13.
(Phonetics) Uttered in a whisper, or with the breath alone, without voice, as certain consonants, such as p, k, t, f; surd; nonvocal; aspirated. Note: Sharp is often used in the formation of self-explaining compounds; as, sharp-cornered, sharp-edged, sharp-pointed, sharp-tasted, sharp-visaged, etc.
Sharp practice, the getting of an advantage, or the attempt to do so, by a tricky expedient.
To brace sharp, or To sharp up (Naut.), to turn the yards to the most oblique position possible, that the ship may lie well up to the wind.
Synonyms: Keen; acute; piercing; penetrating; quick; sagacious; discerning; shrewd; witty; ingenious; sour; acid; tart; pungent; acrid; severe; poignant; biting; acrimonious; sarcastic; cutting; bitter; painful; afflictive; violent; harsh; fierce; ardent; fiery.


adverb
Sharp  adv.  
1.
To a point or edge; piercingly; eagerly; sharply. "The head (of a spear) full sharp yground." "You bite so sharp at reasons."
2.
Precisely; exactly; as, we shall start at ten o'clock sharp. (Colloq.)
Look sharp, attend; be alert. (Colloq.)


noun
Sharp  n.  
1.
A sharp tool or weapon. (Obs.) "If butchers had but the manners to go to sharps, gentlemen would be contented with a rubber at cuffs."
2.
(Mus.)
(a)
The character used to indicate that the note before which it is placed is to be raised a half step, or semitone, in pitch.
(b)
A sharp tone or note.
3.
A portion of a stream where the water runs very rapidly. (Prov. Eng.)
4.
A sewing needle having a very slender point; a needle of the most pointed of the three grades, blunts, betweens, and sharps.
5.
pl. Same as Middlings, 1.
6.
An expert. (Slang)


verb
Sharp  v. t.  (past & past part. sharped; pres. part. sharping)  
1.
To sharpen. (Obs.)
2.
(Mus.) To raise above the proper pitch; to elevate the tone of; especially, to raise a half step, or semitone, above the natural tone.


Sharp  v. i.  
1.
To play tricks in bargaining; to act the sharper.
2.
(Mus.) To sing above the proper pitch.





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


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"Sharp" Quotes from Famous Books



... the fish time to gorge his prey, though, from the way in which the float had run to the surface, he was afraid that the fish had left his bait. At last, Mr Inglis gathered the line up in his hand, and gave a sharp twist of his wrist, and all eyes were bent upon the spot to witness the struggle; but alas! there was no resistance. The great float glided easily over the water, and then Mr Inglis began to wind in, for it was evident that the pike had merely taken the bait because he could not ...
— Hollowdell Grange - Holiday Hours in a Country Home • George Manville Fenn
... formed in modern times from the ancient Greek Language, terms which the ancient Greeks themselves never heard nor conceived of, we had words derived from similar combinations of Anglo-Saxon or German Roots; if, for instance, for Protoxide of Nitrogen, we had the First-sour-stuffness, or the First-sharp-thingness of Salt-petreness, and so throughout the immense vocabulary of chemistry, what an essentially different aspect would the whole English Language now wear! Had Lavoisier, therefore, chosen the Anglo-Saxon or the German ...
— The Continental Monthly, Vol. 5, No. 5, May, 1864 - Devoted To Literature And National Policy • Various
... a sharp cry, and ran swiftly down the path to where Lyle lay unconscious, followed quickly ...
— The Award of Justice - Told in the Rockies • A. Maynard Barbour
... rolling hills and narrow valleys. The two girls were already mounted, and Tim and I were busily tightening the straps for a night's ride, when, from behind us, back in the direction of the peninsula we had just quitted, there sounded the sharp report of a rifle. We straightened up, startled, and our eyes met. There could be but one conclusion—our pursuers had found ...
— The Devil's Own - A Romance of the Black Hawk War • Randall Parrish
... a studied science, and our colonel, who issued special guiding notes to his batteries, had a few sharp words to say one afternoon. The British soldier, old and new, is always happy when he is demolishing something; and a sergeant sent to prepare a pit for a forward gun had collected wood and corrugated iron for it by pulling to pieces a near-by dummy gun, placed specially to draw enemy fire. ...
— Pushed and the Return Push • George Herbert Fosdike Nichols, (AKA Quex)


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