1
as in to sharpen
to make sharp or sharper
honed the knife's blade to razor-like sharpness honed his crossword-puzzle skills by reading the dictionary as though it were a thrilling novel
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2
as in to rub
to make smooth by friction
honed the edge of the axe until it was amazingly sharp
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Recent Examples of hone
The deal is that Crow-Armstrong will continue to hone his craft, and the Cubs will continue to give him the patience and latitude to develop as a hitter.
—
Patrick Mooney, New York Times, 14 Apr. 2025
Your skills have been honed over years of thinking critically, assessing risks, understanding the subject matter and its hidden problems, and achieving tangible and valuable results.
—Joyce Mazero, Forbes.com, 14 Apr. 2025
Lessons learned While many countries were hit by U.S. tariffs this month for the first time, China honed its response during previous bouts of the Sino-American trade war.
—Beijing and Washington Bureaus, USA Today, 14 Apr. 2025
Afterward, students will hone the lesson further through enrichment, or relearn the lesson through small-group tutoring.
—Lina Ruiz, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 12 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for hone
Patrick Mooney, New York Times, 14 Apr. 2025
Your skills have been honed over years of thinking critically, assessing risks, understanding the subject matter and its hidden problems, and achieving tangible and valuable results.
—Joyce Mazero, Forbes.com, 14 Apr. 2025
Lessons learned While many countries were hit by U.S. tariffs this month for the first time, China honed its response during previous bouts of the Sino-American trade war.
—Beijing and Washington Bureaus, USA Today, 14 Apr. 2025
Afterward, students will hone the lesson further through enrichment, or relearn the lesson through small-group tutoring.
—Lina Ruiz, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 12 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for hone
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hone
Verb
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Instead, double down on nurturing customer relationships, enhancing user experience and sharpening your differentiation.—
Expert Panel®,
Forbes.com,
16 Apr. 2025
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As future data sharpens these measurements, the findings could point us in a weird new direction – perhaps even challenging Einstein’s theory of gravity itself.—
Ashley Ross,
The Conversation,
16 Apr. 2025
Verb
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Gently rub away any remaining margarine with a paper towel.—
Annabelle Canela,
Parents,
16 Apr. 2025
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Sometimes even small things can rub a customer wrong.—
Kathy Kristof,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
14 Apr. 2025
Verb
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When the Doctor is planning to break into memory banks to search for answers about why robots and people suddenly stopped peacefully coexisting, Belinda decides to use a polishing robot to lead the robots to her.—
Jennifer Zhan,
Vulture,
12 Apr. 2025
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Offer to polish the slides, do research, or bring everything together.—
Sho Dewan,
Forbes.com,
27 Mar. 2025
Verb
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This is a major project that requires dismantling, sanding, stripping, and prepping cabinets properly for the best-looking results.—
Brandee Gruener,
Southern Living,
6 Mar. 2025
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Corbet’s real crush is on the 1990s and 2000s products of high-end, coffee-table-book designers such as Tadao Ando or Peter Zumthor, who favoured singular, funeral monuments, with an obsessive sanding away of brutalism’s rugged surfaces.—
Matt Shaw,
Forbes,
28 Feb. 2025
Verb
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Just grinding that long, and then to finally get back.—
David O'Brien,
New York Times,
22 Apr. 2025
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The place is a hit, though amid the music and revelry and sweaty bumping and grinding, Smoke and Stack have their hands full, making sure, for instance, that their patrons don’t try to pay for their drinks with wooden nickels.—
Stephanie Zacharek,
Time,
18 Apr. 2025
Verb
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In arguing for the reforms three years ago, insurers said that the industry had become unprofitable due to an avalanche of frivolous lawsuits filed under a century-old Florida law.—
Ron Hurtibise,
Sun Sentinel,
26 Apr. 2025
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Queues of faithful filed into St. Peter's throughout the night and in the early hours of Friday, on the last day to bid farewell to Pope Francis ahead of his funeral on April 26.—
USA Today,
USA Today,
26 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Hone.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hone. Accessed 30 Apr. 2025.
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