noun, slang ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   A device for making things sharp.

   "There was a pencil sharpener at the front of the classroom."

2. 2
   any implement that is used to make something (an edge or a point) sharper wordnet
3. 3
   That which makes something sharp. figuratively

   "“Sir,” said the shepherd, “poverty is a great sharpener of the wits. […]"

4. 4
   An alcoholic drink taken at the start of the day, or just before a meal. informal

Synonyms

All synonyms

axbladecold steelcutlerycutterdagger

Example

More examples

"Tom has an electric pencil sharpener."

Etymology

From sharpen + -er.

Related phrases

pencil sharpenerpencil sharpener

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.