strop

as in to sharpen
to make sharp or sharper at the museum they showed us how men used to strop razors with leather bands before the days of disposable blades

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of strop To strop, draw your knife backward from heel to tip. Craig Caudill, Field & Stream, 13 July 2023 The Department of Transportation said the policy was in response to Beijing's refusal to allow a resumption of flights to China by U.S. carriers that stropped flying to China due to U.S. coronavirus restrictions. Harold Maass, TheWeek, 4 June 2020 Sometimes a leafy twig is selected, and before this can be used the chimpanzee has to strop off the leaves. National Geographic, 17 Apr. 2019 There’s little thunder, no off-piste mental excursions, no sense of a writer stropping his razor. New York Times, 9 July 2018
Recent Examples of Synonyms for strop
Verb
  • Instead, double down on nurturing customer relationships, enhancing user experience and sharpening your differentiation.
    Expert Panel®, Forbes.com, 16 Apr. 2025
  • As future data sharpens these measurements, the findings could point us in a weird new direction – perhaps even challenging Einstein’s theory of gravity itself.
    Ashley Ross, The Conversation, 16 Apr. 2025
Verb
  • Just grinding that long, and then to finally get back.
    David O'Brien, New York Times, 22 Apr. 2025
  • The place is a hit, though amid the music and revelry and sweaty bumping and grinding, Smoke and Stack have their hands full, making sure, for instance, that their patrons don’t try to pay for their drinks with wooden nickels.
    Stephanie Zacharek, Time, 18 Apr. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Strop.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/strop. Accessed 3 May. 2025.

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