hone

¹ American  

[hohn] / hoʊn /

verb (used with object)

honed, honing

1. to make more acute or effective; improve; perfect.

   to hone one's skills.

2. to sharpen on a whetstone with a fine, compact texture.

   to hone a carving knife.

3. to enlarge or finish (a hole) using a precision tool with a mechanically rotated abrasive tip.

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noun

1. a whetstone of fine, compact texture for sharpening razors and other cutting tools.

2. a precision tool with a mechanically rotated abrasive tip, for enlarging holes to precise dimensions.

hone ² American  

[hohn] / hoʊn /

verb (used without object)

honed, honing

1. South Midland and Southern U.S. to yearn; long.

   to hone for the farm life; to hone after peach pie.

2. Archaic. to moan and groan.

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hone ¹ British  

/ həʊn /

noun

1. a fine whetstone, esp for sharpening razors

2. a tool consisting of a number of fine abrasive slips held in a machine head, rotated and reciprocated to impart a smooth finish to cylinder bores, etc

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verb

1. (tr) to sharpen or polish with or as if with a hone

hone ² British  

/ həʊn /

verb

1. to yearn or pine

2. to moan or grieve

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Usage

Hone is sometimes wrongly used where home is meant: this device makes it easier to home in on (not hone in on ) the target

Other Word Forms

• honer noun

Etymology

Origin of hone¹

First recorded before 950; Middle English noun hone, hain “whetstone”; Old English hān “stone, boundary stone, rock”; cognate with Old Norse hein “hone”; akin to cone

Origin of hone²

First recorded in 1590–1600; from Anglo-French honer (unrecorded); Old French hogner “to grumble, growl,” from Germanic; compare Old Saxon hōnian “to abuse, revile”

Example Sentences

By 2000 we had fielded the first generation of precision standoff weapons and further honed our missile defenses, electronic attack, and penetrating stealth capability.

From The Wall Street Journal

If you use your chatbot as a coach, not a crutch, it can help you hone your own memory and reasoning skills.

From The Wall Street Journal

If you use your chatbot as a coach, not a crutch, it can help you hone your own memory and reasoning skills.

From The Wall Street Journal

If you use your chatbot as a coach, not a crutch, it can help you hone your own memory and reasoning skills.

From The Wall Street Journal

Before long, a teenage Gary was singing in clubs up and down the Florida coast, honing the skills that would land him a major recording contract.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• whet