Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner's English Dictionary - sharp

(sharps, sharper, sharpest) Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English. 1. A sharp point or edge is very thin and can cut through things very easily. A sharp knife, tool, or other object has a point or edge of this kind. The other end of the twig is sharpened into a sharp point to use as a toothpick... Using a sharp knife, cut away the pith and peel from both fruits... ? blunt ADJ 2. You can describe a shape or an object as sharp if part of it or one end of it comes to a point or forms an angle. His nose was thin and sharp. ADJ 3. A sharp bend or turn is one that changes direction suddenly. I was approaching a fairly sharp bend that swept downhill to the left. = tight ADJ • Sharp is also an adverb. Do not cross the bridge but turn sharp left to go down on to the towpath. ADV: ADV adv • sharply Room number nine was at the far end of the corridor where it turned sharply to the right. ADV: ADV after v 4. If you describe someone as sharp, you are praising them because they are quick to notice, hear, understand, or react to things. He is very sharp, a quick thinker and swift with repartee... ADJ c darkgreen]approval 5. If someone says something in a sharp way, they say it suddenly and rather firmly or angrily, for example because they are warning or criticizing you. That ruling had drawn sharp criticism from civil rights groups. ADJ • sharply ‘You’ve known,’ she said sharply, ‘and you didn’t tell me?’ ADV: ADV with v, ADV adj 6. A sharp change, movement, or feeling occurs suddenly, and is great in amount, force, or degree. There’s been a sharp rise in the rate of inflation... He felt a sharp pain in the abductor muscle in his right thigh. ADJ • sharply Unemployment among the over forties has risen sharply in recent years... ADV: ADV with v, ADV adj 7. A sharp difference, image, or sound is very easy to see, hear, or distinguish. Many people make a sharp distinction between humans and other animals... We heard a voice sing out in a clear, sharp tone. ADJ: usu ADJ n • sharply Opinions on this are sharply divided... ADV: usu ADV with v, also ADV adj 8. A sharp taste or smell is rather strong or bitter, but is often also clear and fresh. ...a colourless, almost odourless liquid with a sharp, sweetish taste... ADJ 9. Sharp is used after stating a particular time to show that something happens at exactly the time stated. She planned to unlock the store at 8.00 sharp this morning. = precisely ADV: n ADV 10. Sharp is used after a letter representing a musical note to show that the note should be played or sung half a tone higher. Sharp is often represented by the symbol ?. A solitary viola plucks a lonely, soft F sharp. ? flat N-COUNT: usu n N 11. see also razor-sharp