whetstone
Americannoun
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a stone for sharpening cutlery or tools by friction.
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anything that sharpens.
a whetstone for dull wits.
noun
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a stone used for sharpening edged tools, knives, etc
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something that sharpens
Etymology
Origin of whetstone
before 900; Middle English whetston, Old English hwetstān. See whet, stone
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Martin’s “A Game of Thrones” series, said, “A mind needs books as a sword needs a whetstone, if it is to keep its edge.”
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 30, 2025
Whatever knife you choose, buy a honing rod, sharpening steel or whetstone.
From Washington Times • Jun. 9, 2023
Over the past two million years huge sheets of ice ground the landscape of central Illinois to a whetstone flatness.
From Scientific American • Feb. 13, 2023
Activities that demand focus and industry are the whetstone to keeping cognition sharp, Merrill says.
From Washington Post • Dec. 19, 2022
“I tell you this. The one of you who catches it, he alone shall have it!” and so saying, he tossed the whetstone into the air.
From "Norse Mythology" by Neil Gaiman
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
