sharpener

UK/ˈʃɑː(ɹ)pənə(ɹ)/US/ˈʃɑː(ɹ)pənə(ɹ)/

nounA2+Occasional — familiar, but not everyday · #11,749 of 15,258leans spoken

Other forms: sharpeners

A sharpener is the small tool that gives a dull writing stick a new point. A pencil sharpener, use the sharpener, an electric sharpener.

The blade is set at a fixed angle in a block, so the point comes out the same every time — which is the whole design. A knife sharpener does the opposite job with the same name: it grinds a blade back to an edge. Note sharpen, and the -er ending that names a tool.

Definitions of sharpener

1nounsharpenerA small tool that puts a point on a pencil.A2+
“My pencil broke, so I borrowed a sharpener from the girl next to me.”
- Said"Have you got a sharpener? My pencil's down to a stub."
- WrittenThe sharpeners on the teacher's desk were the only ones, and a queue formed at every test.
- UsedEmpty the sharpener into the bin, not onto the floor.
- ContrastA sharpener, not a knife. A knife shaves wood away by hand; a sharpener turns the pencil to a point. knife →
- Not thisThe steel you draw a blade along is another kind of sharpener. This one lives in a schoolbag.
- Exchange"Sharpener?""In my bag. Don't lose it this time."
Patterna pencil sharpener · use / borrow a sharpener · sharpen a pencil · a sharpener blade

sharpener is a tool.

Also accepted in games: pencil sharpener

Remember it

SHARPENer → it makes the pencil SHARP

It is sharpen with -er on the end: turn the pencil in it and the point comes out sharp again.

hooks ontosharp

Where it comes from

Middle English
scharpenen
English
sharpen
English, today
sharpener

From sharpen + -er. sharpen comes from Middle English scharpenen, scharpnen, equivalent to sharp + en.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in School & Learning

Practise this word

sharpener in the wild

A pencil sharpener (or pencil pointer, or in Ireland parer or topper) is a tool for sharpening a wood-cased pencil's writing point by shaving away its worn surface.
Pencil sharpener
Pencil sharpeners may be operated manually or by an electric motor.
Pencil sharpener
A separate device is a cork borer sharpener used to hone the cutting edge to more easily slice the cork.
Cork borer
The outer casing may be made of wood (like an ordinary pencil) and sharpened with a knife or pencil sharpener.
Grease pencil
Walter Kittredge Foster was an inventor and owner of a pencil sharpener factory.
Walter K. Foster House

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

Related words

Definitions of sharpener

1nounsharpenerA small tool that puts a point on a pencil.A2+

“My pencil broke, so I borrowed a sharpener from the girl next to me.”

Said"Have you got a sharpener? My pencil's down to a stub."
WrittenThe sharpeners on the teacher's desk were the only ones, and a queue formed at every test.
UsedEmpty the sharpener into the bin, not onto the floor.
ContrastA sharpener, not a knife. A knife shaves wood away by hand; a sharpener turns the pencil to a point. knife →
Not thisThe steel you draw a blade along is another kind of sharpener. This one lives in a schoolbag.
Exchange"Sharpener?""In my bag. Don't lose it this time."

Patterna pencil sharpener · use / borrow a sharpener · sharpen a pencil · a sharpener blade

sharpener is a tool.

Also accepted in games: pencil sharpener