sharp·en
verb/ˈʃɑːpən/
/ˈʃɑːrpən/
Verb Forms
| present simple I / you / we / they sharpen | /ˈʃɑːpən/ /ˈʃɑːrpən/ |
| he / she / it sharpens | /ˈʃɑːpənz/ /ˈʃɑːrpənz/ |
| past simple sharpened | /ˈʃɑːpənd/ /ˈʃɑːrpənd/ |
| past participle sharpened | /ˈʃɑːpənd/ /ˈʃɑːrpənd/ |
| -ing form sharpening | /ˈʃɑːpənɪŋ/ /ˈʃɑːrpənɪŋ/ |
- [transitive, intransitive] sharpen (something) to make something sharper; to become sharper
（使）变得锋利，变得清晰 - She sharpened her pencils and started drawing.
她削尖铅笔并开始画画。 - This knife needs sharpening.
这把刀需要磨了。 - The outline of the trees sharpened as it grew lighter.
随着天色转亮，树的轮廓变得清晰了。
- She sharpened her pencils and started drawing.
- [intransitive, transitive] sharpen (something) if a sense or feeling sharpens or something sharpens it, it becomes stronger and/or clearer
（使感觉或感情）加强，加重，变得更明显 - Her hearing was sharpened by fear.
她的听力因恐惧而变得敏锐。 - The sea air sharpened our appetites.
海上的空气增进了我们的食欲。 - Clare’s kindness sharpened his awareness of the differences between them.
克莱尔的善良让他更加意识到他们之间的差异。
- Her hearing was sharpened by fear.
- [transitive] sharpen something to make an issue or topic of discussion clearer and more likely to produce a result
使清晰；使明朗 - There is a need to sharpen the focus of the discussion.
有必要使讨论的焦点更加集中。
- There is a need to sharpen the focus of the discussion.
- [intransitive, transitive] to become or make something better, more effective, etc. than before
（使）提高，改善 - sharpen (up) He needs to sharpen up before the Olympic trials.
在奥运会选拔赛之前，他需要进一步磨砺自己。 - sharpen something (up) She's doing a course to sharpen her business skills.
她正进修，以提高自己的业务技能。 - We’re looking to sharpen up the product’s image.
我们希望提升产品的形象。
- sharpen (up) He needs to sharpen up before the Olympic trials.
- [intransitive, transitive] sharpen (something) if your voice sharpens or something sharpens it, it becomes high and loud in an unpleasant way
（使声音）变得尖锐，变得刺耳