American Dictionary of the English Language

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Sharpness


SH'ARPNESS, noun

1. Keenness of an edge or point; as the sharpness of a razor or a dart.

2. Not obtuseness.

3. Pungency; acidity; as the sharpness of vinegar.

4. Pungency of pain; keenness; severity of pain or affliction; as the sharpness of pain, grief or anguish.

5. Painfulness; afflictiveness; as the sharpness or calamity.

And the best quarrels in the heat are curst

By those that feel their sharpness. Shak.

6. Sverity of language; pungency; satirical sarcasm; as the sharpness of a satire or rebuke.

Some did all folly with just sharpness blame. Dryden.

7. Acuteness of intellect; the power of nice discernment; quickness of understanding; ingenuity; as sharpness of wit or understanding.

8. Quickness of sense or perception; as the sharpness of sight.

9. Keenness; sverity as the sharpness of the air or weather.