Sharps

American  

[shahrps] / ʃɑrps /

noun

1. a single-shot, lever-action breechloader rifle patented in the U.S. in 1848 and adopted by the U.S. military in the 1850s.

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Etymology

Origin of Sharps

After Christian Sharps (1811–74), U.S. gunsmith, who invented it

Example Sentences

Sharps enlisted Hutchinson and Brave New World — which had staged “A View From the Bridge” and “On the Waterfront” on the barge before — for a reading of “The Hook” in 2019.

From New York Times • Jun. 9, 2023

But Sharps was a Meade alumnus, a 1998 graduate whose stellar career landed him in the Anne Arundel County Sports Hall of Fame.

From Washington Post • Nov. 4, 2022

"If the soil and growing conditions are suitable," Sharps said, "subsistence farmers may consider growing more millet."

From Reuters • Aug. 31, 2022

These range from the 2018 Sharps Fire in Idaho to the 2020 Lefthand Canyon and Cameron Peak fires in Colorado.

From Scientific American • Feb. 7, 2022

Sharps and flats used to notate music in these traditions should not be assumed to mean a change in pitch equal to an equal-temperament half-step.

From "Understanding Basic Music Theory" by Catherine Schmidt-Jones and Russel Jones