sharp

Sharp is what a knife is when it cuts without you leaning on it. A new blade, a splinter of glass on the kitchen floor, the corner of a table you catch your hip on in the dark.

The word travels a long way from knives. A sharp turn bends hard, a sharp rise on a chart goes up almost straight, and a sharp pain arrives all at once and is gone. A sharp smell — vinegar, cut onions, a cleaning cloth — hits the back of the nose. People are sharp when they think quickly and sharp when they dress well, but take care: call somebody sharp about money and you are saying they are a little dishonest. In music a note played sharp is slightly too high. And at three o'clock sharp, sharp means exactly.

Phrases it lives in

• sharp as a tack — very quick to understand
• the sharp end — the part of a job where the real risk and difficulty are
• look sharp — hurry up, said by somebody with the standing to say it

Also practised as

• adjectiveCutting and immediate on the nose.