Sharp, shärp, adj. having a thin cutting edge or fine point: peaked or ridged: affecting the senses as if pointed or cutting: severe: keen, keenly contested: alive to one's interests, barely honest: of keen or quick perception: vigilant, attentive: pungent, biting, sarcastic: eager: fierce: impetuous: shrill: (phon.) denoting a consonant pronounced with breath and not voice, surd—as the sharp mutes, p, t, k.—n. an acute or shrill sound: (mus.) a note raised a semitone in the scale, also the character directing this: a long and slender sewing-needle—opp. to a blunt and a between: a small sword or duelling sword: a sharper, cheat: (pl.) the hard parts of wheat, middlings: an oysterman's boat—also Sharp′ie, Sharp′y.—v.t. (obs.) to sharpen.—v.i. to play the sharper, cheat.—adj. Sharp′-cut, cut sharply or definitely: well-defined: clear.—v.t. Sharp′en, to make sharp or keen, pungent or painful, active or acute.—v.i. to grow sharp.—ns. Shar′pener, one who sharpens; Sharp′er, a trickster: a swindler: a cheat.—adjs. Sharp′-eyed, sharp-sighted; Sharp′-ground, ground to a sharp edge; Sharp′-look′ing (Shak.), hungry-looking.—adv. Sharp′ly, quickly: to the moment: (mus.) above the true pitch.—n. Sharp′ness.—adjs. Sharp′-nosed, having a pointed nose: keen of scent, as a dog; Sharp′-set, ravenous.—ns. Sharp′-shoot′er, an old term applied in the army to riflemen when skirmishing or specially employed as marksmen; Sharp′-shoot′ing.—adjs. Sharp′-sight′ed, having acute sight: shrewd; Sharp′-vis′aged, having a thin face; Sharp′-wit′ted, having an acute wit.—Look sharp, to show eagerness, to act quickly. [A.S. scearp; Ice. skarpr, Gr. scharf.]
Shaster, shas′tėr, n. a text-book, an authoritative religious and legal book among the Hindus.—Also Shas′tra. [Sans. çāstra—çās, to teach.]
Shatter, shat′ėr, v.t. to break or dash to pieces: to crack: to disorder: to render unsound.—v.i. to break into fragments.—n. a fragment: impaired state.—adjs. Shatt′er-brained, -pā′ted, disordered in intellect; Shatt′ery, brittle. [Scatter.]
Shauchle, shawh′l, v.i. (Scot.) to walk with shuffling, loose gait.—v.t. to distort, deform. [Perh. conn. with Ice. skjálgr, wry, squinting.]
Shave, shāv, v.t. to cut off the hair with a razor: to pare closely: to make smooth by paring: to cut in thin slices: to skim along the surface: to strip, swindle.—v.i. to remove hair by a razor:—pa.p. shāved or shā′ven.—n. the act of shaving: a paring: a narrow miss or escape: a piece of financial knavery.—ns. Shave′-grass, the scouring-rush; Shave′ling, a monk or friar, from his shaven crown; Shā′ver, one who shaves: a barber: a sharp or extortionate dealer: (coll.) a chap, youngster; Shā′ving, the act of shaving: that which is shaved or pared off; Shā′ving-bā′sin, -bowl, -brush, a basin, bowl, brush, used by persons shaving.—Close, or Near, shave, a very narrow escape. [A.S. sceafan, scafan; Dut. schaven, Ger. schaben, L. scabĕre, to scrape, Gr. skaptein, to dig.]
Shavie, shā′vi, n. (Scot.) a trick or prank.—Also Skā′vie. [Perh. Dan. skæv, crooked; cf. Ger. schief, oblique.]
Shaw, shaw, n. a thicket, a small wood: (Scot.) a stem with the leaves, as of a potato. [A.S. scaga; Ice. skógr, Dan. skov.]
Shawl, shawl, n. a wrap made of wool, cotton, silk, or hair, used particularly by women as a loose covering for the shoulders: a kind of mantle.—v.t. to wrap in a shawl.—ns. Shawl′-dance, a graceful Oriental dance in which the dancer waves a scarf; Shawl′-matē′rial, a textile of silk and wool, soft and flexible, usually with Oriental designs, employed for dresses and parts of dresses for women; Shawl′-patt′ern, a coloured pattern, supposed to resemble an Eastern shawl, and applied to material of plainer design; Shawl′-pin, a pin used for fastening a shawl; Shawl′-strap, a pair of leather straps, fitted to a handle, used for carrying shawls, rugs, &c.; Shawl′-waist′coat, a vest or waistcoat with a large staring pattern like that of a shawl. [Pers. shāl.]
Shawm, Shalm, shawm, n. a musical instrument of the oboe class, having a double reed enclosed in a globular mouthpiece. [O. Fr. chalemie—L. calamus, a reed-pipe.]