Adjective

(en adjective)

Tasting sour or bitter.

* 1998 Aug. 5, Dr. Peter Gott, " Can inhaler cause addiction?," Catoosa County News (retrieved 19 Sep 2009):

Those consumers who object to the acerbic taste of garlic can purchase de-odorized garlic or allicin extract.

Sharp, harsh, biting.

* 1986 Sept. 22, " West Germany: Last Taunts From the Lip," Time (retrieved 25 Apr 2014):

Supercompetent, superconfident and supercritical, Schmidt is a gifted orator whose acerbic wit earned him the nickname "Schmidt the Lip."

* 2005 May 5, Jay Mathews, "Don't Fire This Professor," Washington Post , p. T6:

[H]e is one of the most acerbic people in his field, quick to take offense and not shy about telling people with whom he disagrees how much he thinks they have failed in thought and action.

Adjective

(er)

Strained; drawn close; tight.

strict embrace

strict ligature

Tense; not relaxed.

strict fiber

Exact; accurate; precise; rigorously nice.

to keep strict watch

to pay strict attention

Governed or governing by exact rules; observing exact rules; severe; rigorous.

* {{quote-book, year=1905, author=

, title= , chapter=2 citation , passage=No one, however, would have anything to do with him, as Mr. Keeson's orders in those respects were very strict  ; he had often threatened any one of his employés with instant dismissal if he found him in company with one of these touts.}}

very strict in observing the Sabbath

Rigidly interpreted; exactly limited; confined; restricted.

to understand words in a strict sense

(botany) Upright, or straight and narrow; — said of the shape of the plants or their flower clusters.

Severe in discipline.