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hone

Pronunciation: /hoʊn/

The English word “hone” has 10 meanings listed here.

noun

  1. A sharpening stone composed of extra-fine grit used for removing the burr or curl from the blade of a razor or some other edge tool.
  2. A machine tool used in the manufacture of precision bores.
  3. A kind of swelling in the cheek.

verb

  1. To sharpen with a hone; to whet.
  2. To use a hone to produce a precision bore.
  3. To refine (a skill especially) by learning.
  4. To make more acute, intense, or effective.
  5. To grumble.
  6. To pine, lament, or long.

interjection

  1. Synonym of alas Used to express sorrow, or grief

Etymology

From Middle English hon (“whetstone”), from Old English hān, from Proto-Germanic *hainō (compare Dutch heen, Norwegian hein), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱeh₃i- (“to sharpen”) (compare Ancient Greek κῶνος (kônos, “cone”), Persian سان (sân, “whetstone”)).

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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.