Sharpen Sharp"en transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Sarpened ; present participle & verbal noun Sharpening .] [ See Sharp , adjective ] To make sharp. Specifically: (a) To give a keen edge or fine point to; to make sharper; as, to sharpen an ax, or the teeth of a saw. (b) To render more quick or acute in perception; to make more ready or ingenious.

The air . . . sharpened his visual ray
To objects distant far.

Milton.

He that wrestles with us strengthens our nerves and sharpens our skill.

Burke.

(c) To make more eager; as, to sharpen men's desires.

Epicurean cooks
Sharpen with cloyless sauce his appetite.

Shak.

(d) To make more pungent and intense; as, to sharpen a pain or disease. (e) To make biting, sarcastic, or severe. " Sharpen each word." E. Smith. (f) To render more shrill or piercing.

Inclosures not only preserve sound, but increase and sharpen it.

Bacon.

(g) To make more tart or acid; to make sour; as, the rays of the sun sharpen vinegar. (h) (Mus.) To raise, as a sound, by means of a sharp; to apply a sharp to.

Sharpen Sharp"en intransitive verb To grow or become sharp.

Sharper Sharp"er noun 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.

L'Estrange.

Syn. -- Swindler; cheat; deceiver; trickster; rogue. See Swindler .

Sharpie Sharp"ie noun (Nautical) A long, sharp, flat-bottomed boat, with one or two masts carrying a triangular sail. They are often called Fair Haven sharpies , after the place on the coast of Connecticut where they originated. [ Local, U.S.]

Sharpling Sharp"ling noun (Zoology) A stickleback. [ Prov. Eng.]

Sharply Sharp"ly adverb In a sharp manner,; keenly; acutely.

They are more sharply to be chastised and reformed than the rude Irish.

Spenser.

The soldiers were sharply assailed with wants.

Hayward.

You contract your eye when you would see sharply .

Bacon.

Sharpness Sharp"ness noun [ Anglo-Saxon scearpness .] The quality or condition of being sharp; keenness; acuteness.

Sharpsaw Sharp"saw` noun (Zoology) The great titmouse; -- so called from its harsh call notes. [ Prov. Eng.]

Sharpshooter Sharp"shoot`er noun One skilled in shooting at an object with exactness; a good marksman.

Sharpshooting Sharp"shoot`ing noun A shooting with great precision and effect; hence, a keen contest of wit or argument.

Sharptail Sharp"tail` noun (Zoology) (a) The pintail duck. (b) The pintail grouse, or prairie chicken.

Shash Shash noun [ See Sash .] 1. The scarf of a turban. [ Obsolete] Fuller.

2. A sash. [ Obsolete]

Shasta Shas"ta noun A mountain peak, etc., in California.

Shasta daisy Shasta daisy A large-flowered garden variety of the oxeye daisy.

Shasta fir Shasta fir A Californian fir ( Abies shastensis ).

Shasta Sam Shasta Sam (Card Playing) A game like California Jack, except that the pack drawn from is turned face down.

Shaster Shas"ter Shas"tra noun [ Sanskrit cāstra an order or command, a sacred book, from cās to order, instruct, govern. Confer Sastra .] A treatise for authoritative instruction among the Hindoos; a book of institutes; especially, a treatise explaining the Vedas. [ Written also sastra .]

Shathmont Shath"mont noun A shaftment. [ Scot.]

Shatter Shat"ter transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Shattered ; present participle & verbal noun Shattering .] [ Middle English schateren , scateren , to scatter, to dash, Anglo-Saxon scateran ; confer Dutch schateren to crack, to make a great noise, OD. schetteren to scatter, to burst, to crack. Confer Scatter .] 1. To break at once into many pieces; to dash, burst, or part violently into fragments; to rend into splinters; as, an explosion shatters a rock or a bomb; too much steam shatters a boiler; an oak is shattered by lightning.

A monarchy was shattered to pieces, and divided amongst revolted subjects.

Locke.

2. To disorder; to derange; to render unsound; as, to be shattered in intellect; his constitution was shattered ; his hopes were shattered .

A man of a loose, volatile, and shattered humor.

Norris.

3. To scatter about. [ Obsolete]

Shatter your leaves before the mellowing year.

Milton.

Shatter Shat"ter intransitive verb To be broken into fragments; to fall or crumble to pieces by any force applied.

Some fragile bodies break but where the force is; some shatter and fly in many places.

Bacon.

Shatter Shat"ter noun A fragment of anything shattered; -- used chiefly or soley in the phrase into shatters ; as, to break a glass into shatters . Swift.

Shatter-brained, Shatter-pated Shat"ter-brained`, Shat"ter-pat`ed adjective Disordered or wandering in intellect; hence, heedless; wild. J. Goodman.

Shattery Shat"ter·y adjective Easily breaking into pieces; not compact; loose of texture; brittle; as, shattery spar.

Shave Shave obsolete past participle of Shave . Chaucer.

His beard was shave as nigh as ever he can.

Chaucer.

Shave Shave transitive verb [ imperfect Shaved ; past participle Shaved or Shaven ; present participle & verbal noun Shaving .] [ Middle English shaven , schaven , Anglo-Saxon scafan , sceafan ; akin to Dutch schaven , German schaben , Icelandic skafa , Swedish skafva , Danish skave , Goth. scaban , Russian kopate to dig, Greek ............, and probably to Latin scabere to scratch, to scrape. Confer Scab , Shaft , Shape .] 1. To cut or pare off from the surface of a body with a razor or other edged instrument; to cut off closely, as with a razor; as, to shave the beard.

2. To make bare or smooth by cutting off closely the surface, or surface covering, of; especially, to remove the hair from with a razor or other sharp instrument; to take off the beard or hair of; as, to shave the face or the crown of the head; he shaved himself.

I'll shave your crown for this.

Shak.

The laborer with the bending scythe is seen
Shaving the surface of the waving green.

Gay.

3. To cut off thin slices from; to cut in thin slices.

Plants bruised or shaven in leaf or root.

Bacon.

4. To skim along or near the surface of; to pass close to, or touch lightly, in passing.

Now shaves with level wing the deep.

Milton.

5. To strip; to plunder; to fleece. [ Colloq.]

To shave a note , to buy it at a discount greater than the legal rate of interest, or to deduct in discounting it more than the legal rate allows. [ Cant, U.S.]

Shave Shave intransitive verb To use a razor for removing the beard; to cut closely; hence, to be hard and severe in a bargain; to practice extortion; to cheat.

Shave Shave noun [ Anglo-Saxon scafa , sceafa, a sort of knife. See Shave , transitive verb ] 1. A thin slice; a shaving. Wright.

2. A cutting of the beard; the operation of shaving.

3. (a) An exorbitant discount on a note. [ Cant, U.S.] (b) A premium paid for an extension of the time of delivery or payment, or for the right to vary a stock contract in any particular. [ Cant, U.S.] N. Biddle.

4. A hand tool consisting of a sharp blade with a handle at each end; a drawing knife; a spokeshave.

5. The act of passing very near to, so as almost to graze; as, the bullet missed by a close shave . [ Colloq.]

Shave grass (Botany) , the scouring rush. See the Note under Equisetum . -- Shave hook , a tool for scraping metals, consisting of a sharp- edged triangular steel plate attached to a shank and handle.

Shaveling Shave"ling noun A man shaved; hence, a monk, or other religious; -- used in contempt.

I am no longer a shaveling than while my frock is on my back.

Sir W. Scott.

Shaver Shav"er noun 1. One who shaves; one whose occupation is to shave.

2. One who is close in bargains; a sharper. Swift.

3. One who fleeces; a pillager; a plunderer.

By these shavers the Turks were stripped.

Knolles.

4. A boy; a lad; a little fellow. [ Colloq.] "These unlucky little shavers ." Salmagundi.

As I have mentioned at the door to this young shaver , I am on a chase in the name of the king.

Dickens.

5. (Mech.) A tool or machine for shaving.

A note shaver , a person who buys notes at a discount greater than the legal rate of interest. [ Cant, U.S.]

Shaving Shav"ing noun 1. The act of one who, or that which, shaves; specifically, the act of cutting off the beard with a razor.

2. That which is shaved off; a thin slice or strip pared off with a shave, a knife, a plane, or other cutting instrument. " Shaving of silver." Chaucer.

Shaving brush , a brush used in lathering the face preparatory to shaving it.

Shaw Shaw (sha) noun [ Middle English schawe , schaʒe , thicket, grove, Anglo-Saxon scaga ; akin to Danish skov , Swedish skog , Icelandic skōgr .] 1. A thicket; a small wood or grove. [ Obsolete or Prov. Eng. & Scot.] Burns.

Gaillard he was as goldfinch in the shaw .

Chaucer.

The green shaws , the merry green woods.

Howitt.

2. plural The leaves and tops of vegetables, as of potatoes, turnips, etc. [ Scot.] Jamieson.

Shawfowl Shaw"fowl` noun [ Scot. schaw , shaw , show + fowl .] The representation or image of a fowl made by fowlers to shoot at. Johnson.

Shawl Shawl noun [ Persian & Hind. shāl : confer French châle .] A square or oblong cloth of wool, cotton, silk, or other textile or netted fabric, used, especially by women, as a loose covering for the neck and shoulders.

India shawl , a kind of rich shawl made in India from the wool of the Cashmere goat. It is woven in pieces, which are sewed together. -- Shawl goat (Zoology) , the Cashmere goat.

Shawl Shawl transitive verb To wrap in a shawl. Thackeray.

Shawm Shawm noun [ Middle English shalmie , Old French chalemie ; confer French chalumeau shawm, chaume haulm, stalk; all from Latin calamus a reed, reed pipe. See Haulm , and confer Calumet .] (Mus.) A wind instrument of music, formerly in use, supposed to have resembled either the clarinet or the hautboy in form. [ Written also shalm , shaum .] Otway.

Even from the shrillest shaum unto the cornamute.

Drayton.

Shawnees Shaw`nees" noun plural ; sing. Shawnee (Ethnol.) A tribe of North American Indians who occupied Western New York and part of Ohio, but were driven away and widely dispersed by the Iroquois.

Shay Shay noun A chaise. [ Prov. Eng. & Local, U.S.]

She She pron. [ sing. nom. She ; poss. Her . or Hers ; obj. Her ; pl. nom. They ; poss. Their or Theirs ; obj. Them .] [ Middle English she , sche , scheo , scho , Anglo-Saxon seó , fem. of the definite article, originally a demonstrative pronoun; confer Old Saxon siu , Dutch zij , German sie , Old High German siu , sī , si , Icelandic sū , sjā , Goth. si she, sō , fem. article, Russian siia , fem., this, Greek ..., fem. article, Sanskrit sā , syā . The possessive her or hers , and the objective her , are from a different root. See Her .] 1. This or that female; the woman understood or referred to; the animal of the female sex, or object personified as feminine, which was spoken of.

She loved her children best in every wise.

Chaucer.

Then Sarah denied, . . . for she was afraid.

Gen. xviii. 15.

2. A woman; a female; -- used substantively. [ R.]

Lady, you are the cruelest she alive.

Shak.

» She is used in composition with nouns of common gender, for female , to denote an animal of the female sex; as, a she -bear; a she -cat.

Shea tree She"a tree` (Botany) An African sapotaceous tree ( Bassia, or Butyrospermum, Parkii ), from the seeds of which a substance resembling butter is obtained; the African butter tree.

Sheading Shead"ing noun [ From Anglo-Saxon scādan , sceádan , to separate, divide. See Shed , transitive verb ] A tithing, or division, in the Isle of Man, in which there is a coroner, or chief constable. The island is divided into six sheadings.

Sheaf Sheaf noun (Mech.) A sheave. [ R.]

Sheaf Sheaf noun ; plural Sheaves . [ Middle English sheef , shef , schef , Anglo-Saxon sceáf ; akin to Dutch schoof , Old High German scoub , German schaub , Icelandic skauf a fox's brush, and English shove . See Shove .] 1. A quantity of the stalks and ears of wheat, rye, or other grain, bound together; a bundle of grain or straw.

The reaper fills his greedy hands,
And binds the golden sheaves in brittle bands.

Dryden.

2. Any collection of things bound together; a bundle; specifically, a bundle of arrows sufficient to fill a quiver, or the allowance of each archer, -- usually twenty-four.

The sheaf of arrows shook and rattled in the case.

Dryden.

Sheaf Sheaf transitive verb To gather and bind into a sheaf; to make into sheaves; as, to sheaf wheat.

Sheaf Sheaf intransitive verb To collect and bind cut grain, or the like; to make sheaves.

They that reap must sheaf and bind.

Shak.

Sheafy Sheaf"y adjective Pertaining to, or consisting of, a sheaf or sheaves; resembling a sheaf.

Sheal Sheal noun Same as Sheeling . [ Scot.]

Sheal Sheal transitive verb To put under a sheal or shelter. [ Scot.]

Sheal Sheal transitive verb [ See Shell .] To take the husks or pods off from; to shell; to empty of its contents, as a husk or a pod. [ Obsolete or Prov. Eng. & Scot.] Jamieson.

That's a shealed peascod.

Shak.

Sheal Sheal noun A shell or pod. [ Obsolete or Prov. Eng.]

Shealing Sheal"ing noun The outer husk, pod, or shell, as of oats, pease, etc.; sheal; shell. [ Obsolete or Prov. Eng. & Scot.]

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