Verb

(acquir)

To get.

To gain, usually by one's own exertions; to get as one's own, as, to acquire a title, riches, knowledge, skill, good or bad habits.

* (Isaac Barrow) (1630-1677)

No virtue is acquired in an instant, but step by step.

* (William Blackstone) (1723-1780)

Descent is the title whereby a man, on the death of his ancestor, acquires his estate, by right of representation, as his heir at law.

*{{quote-book, year=1922, author=(Michael Arlen), chapter=3/19/2, title= “Piracy”: A Romantic Chronicle of These Days

, passage=Ivor had acquired more than a mile of fishing rights with the house?; he was not at all a good fisherman, but one must do something?; one generally, however, banged a ball with a squash-racket against a wall.}}

Verb

(en verb)

(transitive, sometimes, figurative) To make sharp

* (Edmund Burke) (1729-1797)

He that wrestles with us strengthens our nerves and sharpens our skill.

* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-26, author=(Leo Hickman)

, volume=189, issue=7, page=26, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= How algorithms rule the world , passage=The use of algorithms in policing is one example of their increasing influence on our lives.