Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Date: 1800-1900
Origin: hone 'stone for making things sharp' (14-19 centuries), from Old English hon 'stone'

hone

 verb
     
hone [transitive]
1 to improve your skill at doing something, especially when you are already very good at it:
He set about honing his skills as a draughtsman.
finely honed (=extremely well-developed) intuition
2 formal to make knives, swords etc sharp [= sharpen]
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

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