sharnbod 
dung (see sliani), + budda, beetle.] A duns- 
beetle. 
The ssarnboddes . . . beuleth [avoid] the floures and 
louieth tllet dong. Ayenbite of Inuyt (E. E. T. 8.), p. 61. 
Nowe s/iarnebodde encombreth the bee. 
Pursue on him that slayne anoon he be, 
Palladim, Husbondrie (E. E. T. S.), p. 173. 
sharp (sharp), a. and n. [< ME. sharp, scharp, 
.-l,irp, ssarp, scserp, < AS. sccarp = OS. scarp 
= OFries. skerp, sciicr/*. xclnirp = I), xchei-p = 
MLG. LG. XC/KII-/I = OHG. scarf, scarph (rare), 
MHG. scliarf, scltarpf, G. scliarf = Icel. skarpr 
= Sw. Dan. skarp (Goth, not recorded), sharp; 
appar. connected with AS. screpan (pret . scrstp), 
scrape, sceorpan, scrape, and perhaps with 
sceorfaii, cut up, cut off: see scrape, scarpi 
scarf 1, etc. The OHG. MHG. sarf, sharp, Icel. 
stMrpr, sharp, are prob. not connected with 
sharp. The words of similar form and sense 
are very numerous, and exhibit considerable 
phonetic diversity, indicating that two or more 
orig. diff. words have become more or less en- 
tangled.] I. a. 1. Having a fine cutting edge 
or point; acute; keen: opposed to blunt: as, a 
sharp sword ; a sharp needle. 
Fyrste loke that thy handes be clene, 
And that thy knyf be sharpe & kene; 
And cutte thy breed & alle thy mete 
Ryjth euen as thon doste hit ete. 
Babees Book (E. E. T. S.), p. 14. 
He dies upon my scimitar's sharp point 
That touches this my first-born son and heir ' 
Shale., Tit. And., iv. 2. 91. 
2. Terminating in a point or peak; peaked: 
opposed to obtuse, blunt, or rounded: as, a 
sharproof; a s/iarp ridge. 3. Clean-cut; well- 
defined ; distinct : opposed to blurred, misty, or 
hazy ; specifically, in optics and photon., per- 
fectly focused. 
Sometimes it was carved in sharp relief 
With quaint arabesques of ice-fern leaf. 
Lowell, Vision of Sir Launfal, ii., Prel. 
5553 
One of those small but sharp recollections that return 
lacerating your self-respect like tiny pen-knives. 
Charlotte Bronte, .Shirley, xii. 
It was a sharp fever that destroyed him. 
Q. Ticknor, Span. Lit., I. 868. 
9. Acute; quick; keen; strong: noting the 
senses of sight and hearing: as, a sharp eye; 
a sharp ear. 
He had a sharp and piercing sight, 
All one to him the day and night. 
Drayton, Nymphidia. 
AH ears grew sharp 
To hear the doom-blast of the trumpet. 
Whittier, Tent on the Beach. 
Hence 10. Vigilant; attentive: as, to keep 
a sharp lookout for thieves or for danger. 
The only way for us to travel was upon the county 
roads, always keeping a sharp ear for the patrol, and not 
allowing ourselves to be seen by a white man. 
The Century, XL. 615. 
11. Acute of mind; keen-witted; of quick or 
great discernment ; shrewd; keen: as, a sharp 
man. 
Skelton asharpe Satirist, but with more raylingaml scof- 
fery than became a Poet Lawreat. 
Puttenham, Arte of Eng. Poesie, p. 50. 
To seem learned, to seem judicious, to seem sharp and 
conceited. B. Jonson, Epico3ne, ii. 3. 
Hence 12. Keenly alive to one's interests; 
quick to see favorable circumstances and turn 
them to advantage ; keen in business ; hence, 
barely honest; "smart": applied to both per- 
sons and things: as, sharp practices. 
They found that the Don had been too sharp for them. 
Dampier, Voyages, I. 22! 
A crag just over us, two thousand feet high, stood out 
clear and sharp against the sky. Frtmde, Sketches, p. 76. 
4. Abrupt; of acute angle : as, a sharp turn of 
the road: said also of the yards of a square- 
rigged vessel when they are braced at the most 
acute angle with the keel. 5. Angular and 
hard ; not rounded : as, sharp sand. 
Two parts clean, sharp sand. 
C. T. Dams, Bricks and Tiles, p. 319. 
6. Angular ; having the bones prominent, as in 
emaciation or leanness : as, a sharp visage. 7. 
Keenly affecting the organs of sense. ( ffl ) Pun- 
gent in taste ; acrid ; acid ; sour ; bitter : as, sharp vinegar. 
Sharp physic is the last. Shak., Pericles, i. 1. 72. 
In the suburbs of St. Priv<5 there is a fountayneof sham 
water wd> they report wholesome against the stone. 
Evelyn, Diary, Sept. 21, 1844. 
Its taste is sharp, in vales new-shorn it grows, 
Where Mella's stream in watery mazes flows. 
Addition, tr. of Virgil's Georgics, iv. 
((>) Shrill or piercing in sound : as, a sharp voice. 
You shall find the sound strike so sharp as vou can 
scarce endure it. Boom, Nat Hist , 138. 
The wood-bird's plaintive cry, 
The locust's sharp reply. 
Whittier, The Maids of Attitash. 
(c) Keenly cold ; piercing ; biting ; severe : as, a sharp 
frost ; sharp weather. 
The Winter is long and sharpe, with much snow in Cibo- 
la, and therefore they then keepe in their Cellers which 
are in place of Stoues vnto them. 
Purchas, Pilgrimage, p. 778. 
I felt the sharp wind shaking grass and vine. 
Intensely bright. *, Laus Veneris. 
8. Cutting; acrimonious; keen; severe; harsh; 
biting: as, sharp words ; a sharp rebuke. 
The loss of liberty 
No doubt, sir, is a heavy and sharp burden 
To them that feel it truly. 
Beau, and Fl., Knight of Malta, iii. 4. 
Be thy words severe, 
sharp as he merits ; but the sword forbear 
There is nothing makes men sharper, and sets their 
hands and wits more at work, than want. 
Addison, Remarks on Italy (Works, ed. Bonn, 1. 361). 
I will not say that he is dishonest, but at any rate he is 
sharp. Trollope, Framley Parsonage, ix. 
13. Disposed to say cutting things; sarcastic. 
Your mother is too sharp. The men are afraid of you, 
Maria. I ve heard several young men say so. 
Thackeray, Philip, iv. 
14. Subtle; nice; witty; acute: said of things. 
Sharp and subtile discourses procure very great ap- 
plause. * Hooktr. 
He pleaded still not guilty, and alleged 
Many sharp reasons to defeat the law. 
Shak., Hen. VIII., ii. 1. 14. 
Shee hath a wit as sharpe as her needle. 
Heywood, Fair Maid of the Exchange. 
15. Eager or keen, as in pursuit or quest. 
Then he shope hym to ship in a sharp haste, 
And dressit for the depe as hym dere thught. 
Destruction of Troy (E. E. T. S.), 1. 1780. 
My falcon now is sharp and passing empty. 
Shak., T. of the S., iv. 1. 193. 
To satisfy the sharp desire I had 
Of tasting those fair apples. 
Milton, P. L., ix. 584. 
16. Keenly contested: as, a sharp race. 17. 
Quick; speedy: as, a sharp walk ; sharp work. 
Away goes the Tally-ho into the darkness, forty-five 
seconds from the time they pulled up ; Ostler, Boots and 
the Squire stand looking after them under the Peacock 
lamp. "Sharp work," says the Squire, and goes in again 
to his bed, the coach being well out of sight and hearing. 
T. Hughes, Tom Brown at Rugby, i. 4! 
18. In phonetics, noting a consonant pro- 
nounced or uttered with breath and not with 
voice; surd; non-vocal: as, the sharp mutes, 
p, t, k.19. In music: (a) Of tones, above a 
given or intended pitch: as, a piano is sharp, 
(b) Of intervals, either major or augmented: 
as, a sharp third (a major third); a sharp fifth 
(.) Stern ; rigid; eating. 
Apter to blame than knowing how to mend 
A sharp, but yet a necessary friend. 
Dryden andSoamee, tr. of Boileau's Art of Poetry iv 1093 
struggle" ^coXr' 016 "'' im P etUOa8 = *: * ^rp 
The contention was so sharp between them that they 
departed asunder one from the other. Acts xv. 39 
Though some few shrunk at these first conflicts & sharp 
beginnings (as it was no marvell), yet many more came 
on with fresh courage. 
Bradford, Plymouth Plantation, p. 15. 
(c) Poignant ; painful or distressing ; afflictive : as, a sharp 
fit of the gout ; a sharp tribulation. 
Sharp misery had worn him to the bones. 
Shak., R. and J., v. 1. 41. 
(an augmented fifth). " (c) Of keys or tonali- 
ties, having sharps in the signature: as, the 
key of D is a sharp key. (rf) Of organ-stops, 
noting mutation- or mixture-stops that give 
shrill tones. Opposed to flat in all senses but 
the last sharp dock. See docki, l. Sharp im- 
pression, in printing, a clear print which shows the 
sharp edges of every type without any overlapping of ink 
= Syn. 1. Sharp, Keen, Acute. Sharp is the general word' 
and is applicable to edges, long or short, coarse or fine 
Jr to points. Keen is a strong word, and applies to long 
edges, as of a dagger, sword, or knife, not to points. Acute 
is not very often used to express sharpness ; when used, it 
applies to a long, fine point, as of a needle. 6 (a) Biting 
pungent, hot, stinging, piquant, highly seasoned, (c) Nip- 
Ping 8. (c) Poignant, intense. 11. Astute, discerning, 
quick, ready, sagacious, cunning. 13. Caustic, tart. 
II. n. 1. A pointed weapon; especially, a 
small sword ; a dueling-sword, as distinguished 
from a blunted or buttoned foil: as, he fences 
better with foils than with sharps. [Obsolete 
or slang.] 
Mony swoujninge lay thorw schindringe of scharpe 
Joseph of Arimathie (E. E. T. S.), p. 17. 
If butchers had but the manners to go to sharps gen- 
tlemen would be contented with a rubber at cuffs 
Jeremy Collier, Essays, Duelling. 
sharp 
The Coast is once more clear, and I may venture my 
Carcase forth again though such a Salutation as the last 
wouil make me very unfit for the matttr in hand The 
Battoon I cou'd bear with the Fortitude and Courage of a 
Hero ; but these dangerous Sharps I never lov'd. 
Aphra Behn, Feigned Curtizans, iii. 
2. pi. One of the three usual grades of sewing- 
needles, the others being blunts and betweens. 
The sharps are the longest and most keenly 
pointed. 3. A sharper; a shark. 
Gamblers, slugging rings, and pool-room sharps of every 
8na P e - Elect. Jiev. (Amer.), XII. 6. 
4. An expert : as, a mining sharp. [Slang.] 
One entomological sharp, who is spoken of as good au- 
thority, estimates the annual loss in the United States 
from this source [insect parasites] at $300,000,000 
Sci. Amer., N. S., LVII. 249. 
5. pi. The hard parts of wheat, which require 
grinding a second time : same as middlings. See 
middling, n., 3. 6. A part of a stream where 
the water runs very rapidly. C. Kingsley. (Ii/i/i. 
Diet.) [Prov. Eng.] 7. An acute or shrill 
sound. 
It is the lark that sings so out of tune, 
Straining harsh discords and unpleasing sharps. 
Shak., R. and J., iii. 5. 28. 
8. In music : (a) A tone one half -step above a 
given tone : as, the sharp of F (that is, F sharp). 
The lutenist takes flats and sharps, 
And out of those so dissonant notes does strike 
A ravishing harmony. 
Randolph, Muses' Looking-Glass, iv. 5. 
(6) On the pianoforte, with reference to any 
given key, the key next above or to the right. 
bee flat, n., 7 (b). (c) In musical notation, the 
character j, which when attached to a note Di- 
staff-degree raises its significance one half- 
step. Opposed to flat in all senses. 9. A 
sharp consonant. See I., 18. 10. In dia- 
mond-cutting, the edge of the quadrant when 
an octahedral 
diamond is 
cleft into 
four parts. 
11. Akindof 
boat used by 
oystermen. 
Also sharpie, 
sharpy Dou- 
ble sharp, in 
music : (a) A 
tone two half- 
steps higher 
than a given 
tone ; the sharp of a sharp, (b) On the pianoforte, a key 
next but one above or to the right of a given key. (c) The 
character X, which when attached to a note or to a staff - 
degree raises its significance two half-steps To fight or 
Play at sharpt, to fight with swords or similar weapons. 
Nay, sir, your commons seldom Jight at sharp, 
But buffet in a warehouse. 
Fletcher (and another 1 !), Nice Valour, v. 3. 
The devil, that did but buffet St. Paul, plays methinks 
at sharp with me. Sir T. Browne, Religio Medici, ii. 7. 
sharp (sharp), v. [< ME. sharpen, scharpen, < 
AS. scerpan, scyrpan (= OS. scerpan = MD. D. 
scherpen = MLG. scharpen, scherpen = MHG 
seherfen, scherpfen, G. scharfen = Sw. skarpa = 
Dan. skjxrpe'), make sharp, < scearp, sharp: see 
sharp, a.] I. trans. 1. To sharpen; make keen 
or acute. 
He sharpeth shaar and kultour bisily. 
Chaucer, Miller's Tale, 1. 577. 
To sharpe my sence with sundry beauties vew 
Spenser, To all the gratious and beautifull Ladies' in the 
[Court. 
Then Lammikin drew his red, red sword, 
And sharped it on a stane. 
Lammikin (Child's Ballads, III. 811). 
2. In music, to elevate (a tone); specifically, 
to apply a sharp to (a note or staff -degree) 
that is, to elevate it a half-step. Also sharpen 
- To sharp the main bowline. See bou-iine. 
U.mtrans. 1. To indulge in sharp practices; 
play the sharper; cheat. 
Among the rest there are a sharping set 
That pray for us, and yet against us bet. 
Dryden, King Arthur, Pro!., 1. 38. 
Went plungin'on the turf; got among the Jews ; . . 
sharped at cards at his club. 
J. W. Palmer, After his Kind, p. 128. 
2. In music, to sing or play above the true 
pitch. Also sharpen. 
sharp (sharp), adv. [< ME. sharpe; < sharp, a.l 
1. Sharply. 
And cried "Awake ! " ful wonderliche and sharpe. 
Chaucer, Troilus, i. 729. 
No marvel, though you bite so sharp at reasons. 
_ . Shak., T. and C., ii. 2. 33. 
2. Quickly. 
Knights gather, riding sharp for cold. 
Swinburne, Laus Veneris. 
