whet

[hwet, wet]

verb (used with object), whet·ted, whet·ting.

to sharpen (a knife, tool, etc.) by grinding or friction.
to make keen or eager; stimulate: to whet the appetite; to whet the curiosity.

noun

the act of whetting.
something that whets; appetizer or drink.
Chiefly Southern U.S.
1. a spell of work.
2. a while: to talk a whet.

Origin of whet

before 900; Middle English whetten (v.), Old English hwettan (derivative of hwæt bold); cognate with German wetzen, Old Norse hvetja, Gothic gahwatjan to incite

Related formswhet·ter, nounun·whet·ted, adjective

Can be confusedwet whet

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for whetting

hone, sharpen, pique, incite, stimulate, kindle, file, edge, finish, grind, strop, awaken, waken, provoke, challenge, increase, wake, rally, enhance, animate

Examples from the Web for whetting

Contemporary Examples of whetting

With the New Libran Moon on Tuesday, adventure is in the air, whetting your Leo appetite, which has recently been lagging.
The Stars Predict Your Week
Starsky + Cox
September 24, 2011

Historical Examples of whetting

In whetting the points hold the pen at an angle of 12 degrees.
Practical Mechanics for Boys
J. S. Zerbe
The whetting, of course, is the reverse of that on the outside bevel gouge.
Handwork in Wood
William Noyes
They are whetting their beaks, as if they expected a banquet.
The Lone Ranche
Captain Mayne Reid
I fancy it was the parrot at the window, whetting his bill upon his cage-wires.
The Works of Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe
Perhaps you have been whetting your teeth at Easter and Michaelmas?
Poems of The Third Period
Friedrich Schiller

British Dictionary definitions for whetting

whet

verb whets, whetting or whetted (tr)

to sharpen, as by grinding or friction
to increase or enhance (the appetite, desire, etc); stimulate

noun

the act of whetting
a person or thing that whets

Derived Formswhetter, noun

Word Origin for whet

Old English hwettan; related to hvæt sharp, Old High German hwezzen, Old Norse hvetja, Gothic hvatjan

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for whetting

whet

Old English hwettan, from Proto-Germanic *khwatjanan (cf. Old Norse hvetja "to sharpen, encourage," Middle Low German, Middle Dutch wetten, Old High German wezzan, German wetzen "to sharpen," Gothic ga-hvatjan "to sharpen, incite"), from an adjective represented by Old English hwæt "brave, bold," Old Saxon hwat "sharp," from Proto-Germanic *khwataz, from PIE root *qwed- "sharp" (cf. Sanskrit codati "incites," literally "sharpens"). Figurative sense was in Old English.