sharp-set
/'ʃɑ:p'set/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
- Adjective:
- Extremely hungry, ravenous: The primary meaning describes a state of intense hunger, often to the point of being voracious or famished.
- (Archaic, of an edge or point) Set at a sharp angle: This older, less common usage refers to something being positioned or ground to a keen edge or acute point.
Usage and Examples
- Adjective (Extremely hungry):
- After the long hike, we were all sharp-set and devoured our dinner.
- The sharp-set wolves prowled the edge of the forest.
- Adjective (Archaic - Set at a sharp angle):
- The mason used a sharp-set chisel for the fine detail work. (This usage is now rare.)
Advanced Usage and Nuances
- "Sharp-set" is a somewhat literary or formal synonym for "very hungry." It often implies a hunger that is keen, urgent, or animalistic.
- It can be used figuratively to describe an intense desire or craving for something non-physical, though this is less common.
- He was sharp-set for knowledge, reading every book he could find.
Variants and Related Words
- Sharpen (verb): To make or become sharp.
- Sharp (adjective): Having a keen edge or point; acute.
- Sharpness (noun): The quality of being sharp.
Synonyms
- Ravenous: Extremely hungry; voracious.
- Famished: Very hungry; starving.
- Starving: Suffering or dying from hunger.
- Esurient (literary): Hungry or greedy.
- Voracious: Wanting or consuming great quantities of food.
Antonyms
- Full: Having eaten enough.
- Satiated: Satisfied, especially in appetite or desire.
- Replete: Filled or well-supplied.
Idioms and Phrases
- Sharp-set as a hawk: An idiom emphasizing extreme, predatory hunger.
- The stranded sailors were sharp-set as hawks by the time rescue arrived.
Adjective
- extremely hungry
- they were tired and famished for food and sleep
- a ravenous boy
- the family was starved and ragged
- fell into the esurient embrance of a predatory enemy