hone

UK: /ˈhəʊn/ US: /hoʊn/ ,(hōn)

Inflections of 'hone' (v): (⇒ conjugate)

hones

v 3rd person singular

honing

v pres p

honed

v past

honed

v past p

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026

hone¹ /hoʊn/   v. [~ + object] , honed, hon•ing. 

1. Building to sharpen:
   He honed his sword on a nearby rock.
2. to make more adroit or effective:
   honed her technique as a pianist.

hon•er, n. [countable]

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

hone¹  (hōn), n., v., honed, hon•ing. 
n. 

1. Building a whetstone of fine, compact texture for sharpening razors and other cutting tools.
2. Building a precision tool with a mechanically rotated abrasive tip, for enlarging holes to precise dimensions.

v.t. 

3. Building to sharpen on a hone:
   to hone a carving knife.
4. Building to enlarge or finish (a hole) with a hone.
5. to make more acute or effective;
   improve;
   perfect:
   to hone one's skills.

• bef. 950; Middle English (noun, nominal); Old English hān stone, rock; cognate with Old Norse hein hone; akin to cone

hon′er, n. 

hone²  (hōn), v.i., honed, hon•ing. 

1. Dialect Terms [South Midland and Southern U.S.] to yearn;
   long:
   to hone for the farm life; to hone after peach pie.
2. [Archaic.] to moan and groan.

• Gmc; compare Old Saxon hōnian to abuse, revile
• Anglo-French *honer; Old French hogner to grumble, growl
• 1590–1600

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

hone / həʊn/ noun

1. a fine whetstone, esp for sharpening razors

verb

1. (transitive) to sharpen or polish with or as if with a hone

Etymology: Old English hān stone; related to Old Norse heinUSAGE
Hone is sometimes wrongly used where home is meant: this device makes it easier to home in on (not hone in on) the target