🪒 A sharpening strap 🪒 To sharpen

to strop

8.6

To rub a blade on leather to make its edge smooth and sharp

verb
/strɒp/

: afilar

The razor was dull, and he had to pause to strop it, but he managed to shave without drawing blood.

Examples

Before the barber began to shave the customer, he took a moment to strop his razor on the leather belt.
He strops it against the long tongue of his belt.

Fiction book (1996)
And does the trusty razor strop still hang behind the door?

The Thin Man Goes Home (1944)
As soon as I saw her getting ready to go out, I'd make for her door and strop her ankles and purr like an engine.

Fiction book (1999)
He learned how to strop his razor properly to ensure a smooth shave.
To maintain the sharpness of his knife, he would strop it on a piece of leather after each use.

Synonyms

to sharpen

vsto strop

35 2.1

To make the edge or tip of something thin and able to cut, like a knife

specifies a rubbing action on leather for edge work

to set

vsto strop

2 8.4

To give a sharp edge to a knife or razor

focuses on rubbing technique rather than only producing the edge

to whet

vsto strop

1 8.8

To make a blade or tool sharper by rubbing it on a stone

uses rubbing on leather rather than rubbing on a stone

to strap

vsto strop

1 7.4

To sharpen a razor by rubbing it on a leather band

uses a specific leather tool rather than a generic strip

How Sharp

to strop

8.6

to set

2 8.4

to hone

8 5.5

to sharpen

35 2.1

Surface Forms

strop infinitive

stropped past

stropped past participle

stropping present participle

strops third person singular

Etymology

Strop comes from the same old word for a leather 'strap', like strap, and it means to rub a razor or knife on that strap to sharpen and align its edge.