hone

/hoʊn/

/həʊn/

Other forms: honed; honing; hones

The verb hone means to sharpen skills. When you practice shooting baskets every day after school, you are honing your skills as a basketball player.

Hone, the verb, literally means to sharpen with a hone, a whetstone used to sharpen cutting tools. Use hone to describe someone working hard, perfecting or sharpening skills, as in "She is honing her skills as an actress by working in community theater." Hone, which rhymes with phone, is from the Old English word, han, meaning "stone, rock."

Definitions of hone

1. verb

   sharpen with a hone
   “hone a knife”

   types:

   set

   give a fine, sharp edge to a knife or razor

   type of:

   sharpen

   make sharp or sharper
2. verb

   refine or make more perfect or effective
   synonyms: perfect

   types:

   optimise, optimize

   make optimal; get the most out of; use best

   brush up, burnish, polish, polish up, round, round off

   bring to a highly developed, finished, or refined state

   type of:

   ameliorate, amend, better, improve, meliorate

   make better
3. noun

   a whetstone made of fine gritstone; used for sharpening razors
   type of:

   whetstone

   a flat stone for sharpening edged tools or knives