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Sharper   /ʃˈɑrpər/   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.



noun
Sharper  n.  A person who bargains closely, especially, one who cheats in bargains; a swinder; also, a cheating gamester. "Sharpers, as pikes, prey upon their own kind."
Synonyms: Swindler; cheat; deceiver; trickster; rogue. See Swindler.






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Sharper" Quotes from Famous Books



... she ordered something done or spent some money in a way that excited the astonishment of Willy Croup—the sharper-witted Betty had gone home, for, of course, Mrs. Cliff could not be expected to be able to afford her company now. But in attempting to account for these inconsiderable extravagances, Mrs. Cliff was often obliged ...
— The Adventures of Captain Horn • Frank Richard Stockton

... by a steady clicking, such as might be made by gently striking a stick against the pavement; only sharper. This lasted a minute, during which the other ...
— The Blind Spot • Austin Hall and Homer Eon Flint

... country. To one as ignorant as I was of mercantile movement, the story of Colbert's methods, owing to their pure autocracy, was a kind of introductory primer to this element of sea power. Thus received, the impression was both sharper and deeper. New light was shed upon, and new emphasis given to, the commonplace assertion of the relations between commerce and a navy; civil and military sea power. While I have no claim to mastery ...
— From Sail to Steam, Recollections of Naval Life • Captain A. T. Mahan

... or injured him in some such silly way; and he had a violent animosity to the old Baron de Magny, both in his capacity of Protestant, and because the latter in some haughty mood had publicly turned his back upon him as a sharper and a spy. Perpetual quarrels were taking place between them in council; where it was only the presence of his august masters that restrained the Baron from publicly and frequently expressing the contempt which he felt for ...
— Barry Lyndon • William Makepeace Thackeray

... coast of England. That other, in the grey surtout and cocked hat, is Napoleon Bonaparte Smith, assuring France that she need apprehend no interference from him in the present alarming juncture. At that spot, where you seem to see a speck of something in motion, is an immense mass-meeting. Look sharper, and you will see a mite brandishing his mandibles in an excited manner. That is the great Mr. Soandso, defining his position amid tumultuous and irrepressible cheers. That infinitesimal creature, upon whom some score of others, as minute as he, are gazing ...
— The Biglow Papers • James Russell Lowell


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