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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Examples Sentences
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Recent Examples of hone
Browne and other managers frequently travel to the Spanish hotels, and their European counterparts come to Antigua to exchange ideas and hone their vision of hospitality.
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Ann Abel, Forbes, 30 Oct. 2024
At a certain level of execution, sushi is very much an art of marginal differences: the precise angle to which one chef might hone the blade of his knife, or the particular way another vinegars his rice.
—Helen Rosner, The New Yorker, 27 Oct. 2024
Our partnership with Micron Technology will help thousands of high school students hone the skills necessary for success in the booming semiconductor industry.
—Nina Turner, Newsweek, 30 Oct. 2024
Most marathon runners spend a lot of time honing their system during training runs.
—Ryleigh Nucilli, Outside Online, 29 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for hone 
Ann Abel, Forbes, 30 Oct. 2024
At a certain level of execution, sushi is very much an art of marginal differences: the precise angle to which one chef might hone the blade of his knife, or the particular way another vinegars his rice.
—Helen Rosner, The New Yorker, 27 Oct. 2024
Our partnership with Micron Technology will help thousands of high school students hone the skills necessary for success in the booming semiconductor industry.
—Nina Turner, Newsweek, 30 Oct. 2024
Most marathon runners spend a lot of time honing their system during training runs.
—Ryleigh Nucilli, Outside Online, 29 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for hone
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hone
Verb
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This system uses the company’s AI platform, which has been trained on millions of dental images, to sharpen blurry X-ray images and add color and other visualizations to more clearly highlight potential dental health issues.Alex Knapp, Forbes, 4 Nov. 2024
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Heff’s struggles with this art — not to mention his inert, unsuccessful attempts to get a girlfriend — only sharpened his image of himself as a beautiful failure.Mark Oppenheimer, The Hollywood Reporter, 25 Oct. 2024
Verb
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Bucks rub, scrape, and prowl for does on these break lines.Michael Hanback, Outdoor Life, 7 Nov. 2024
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Pardi also sparked pregnancy rumors back in February, when he was seen rubbing his beau’s belly during a photo-op.Amber Corrine, VIBE.com, 5 Nov. 2024
Verb
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High school seniors are now in the midst of the college admissions process; writing essays, polishing college lists, and preparing for interviews.Christopher Rim, Forbes, 28 Oct. 2024
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Read on to learn how to use banana peels to shine and polish silver and leather, as well as several other unusual household uses for banana peels.Jolie Kerr, Better Homes & Gardens, 3 Oct. 2024
Verb
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Stubborn stains may require you to sand down and restore the wood.Mary Cornetta, Better Homes & Gardens, 29 Oct. 2024
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The typical modern player is a lone, distant figure, emerging to issue platitudes about remaining in the moment, taking it one game at a time, the language itself sanded down to an anodyne pallor.Nicholas Dawidoff, The New Yorker, 26 Oct. 2024
Verb
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Limestone and clay are ground up and fed into a very long rotating kiln heated to about 1,450C (2,640F).Lara Williams, The Mercury News, 5 Nov. 2024
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Routines ground us in the here and now and remind us of things within our control that do not have to change.Stephanie Innes, The Arizona Republic, 5 Nov. 2024
Verb
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Internationally, the company is focused on regulatory approval in China, with an application filed with the NMPA on October 16, 2024.Quartz Bot, Quartz, 14 Nov. 2024
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The verdict came in response to many petitions filed after demolitions in recent years in states ruled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).Reuters, NBC News, 14 Nov. 2024
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Cite this Entry
“Hone.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hone. Accessed 21 Nov. 2024.
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