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Glite Dictionary
to sharpen skills

to sharpen skills

3.9
To get better at a skill by practising
  • phrasal verb
  • /ˈʃɑːrpən skɪlz/
translation icon : mejorar habilidades
  • To remain current within the changing health care system, health care professionals must continuously develop and sharpen skills to provide effective care.

Examples

  • Health care professionals must continuously develop and sharpen skills to provide effective care in a changing environment.

  • Distance education offers students opportunities to sharpen skills for lifelong learning and success outside school.

    Academic text (2012)

  • Nursing professionals are challenged to continuously develop and sharpen skills to provide effective care.

    Academic text (2002)

  • Sharpen skills.

    Blog text (19)

  • Don't forget that these statistics also include Baby Boomers, with 47 percent of workers 50-plus reporting that they're seeking higher education to sharpen skills that might help them on the job.

    Blog text (25)

  • Distance education offers students opportunities to sharpen skills for lifelong learning and success outside school.

  • Many adults take courses to sharpen skills that can enhance their career prospects.

Synonyms

to hone
vsto sharpen skills
66 4.2

To make a skill better by careful practice

is about improving ability generally rather than aiming for full perfection
to get better at
vsto sharpen skills
34 1.8

To become more skilled in an activity by practicing

is about enhancing overall expertise rather than just slow, steady gains
to polish up
vsto sharpen skills
  • Informal
4 3.5

Make something better by practicing or fixing it

is about broad enhancement rather than only making small refinements

Antonyms

to weaken
305 2.8

To make people and things less strong or effective

How Skilled

to perfect
118 3.9
to master
191 4.1
to sharpen skills
3.9
to improve
∞ 1.0
to train
442 1.0
to practice
  • US
697 1.0

Surface Forms

sharpen skills infinitive
sharpened skills past
sharpened skills past participle
sharpening skills present participle
sharpens skills third person singular

Morphology

sharpen + skill

The meaning 'to improve or enhance abilities' follows directly from combining 'sharpen' (to make more acute or refined) with 'skills' (abilities/practice), so a learner who knows both words can infer the MWE. This metaphorical extension is common in English and in many other languages, making the construction immediately comprehensible to a B1 learner.

Etymology

Sharpen skills comes from the simple picture of making a tool sharp: when you sharpen a knife or a pencil its edge or point becomes easier to use, and people think of skills the same way. So, to sharpen skills means 'to improve' them by practice.