whet

Formswhets, whetting, whetted

Pluralwhets

1. 1
   stimulateverbtransitive

   To stimulate something such as appetite, curiosity, or interest, making it keener.

   The opening chapter whetted readers' curiosity about who the killer was.

   A few hints about the trip can whet anyone's enthusiasm.

   UsageUsually whet someone's appetite (not incorrect: wet), often for something; also curiosity or interest.

   Similarexcite, stimulate, sharpen, rouse, kindle

   Oppositedampen, dull, blunt

   Note

   The figurative edge was there from the start, since the Old English ancestor of the sharpening sense already meant "incite" and "encourage". Today its fixed partner is appetite, often for something abstract, as in Gandhi's The Story of My Experiments with Truth, where a book "whetted my appetite for dietetic studies". Julius Caesar shows a sharper construction: Cassius whets the speaker against Caesar, rousing a person rather than a feeling. Source

   Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

   • The Old English ancestor already had the figurative meanings 'incite' and 'encourage'. en.wiktionary.org
   • Gandhi's The Story of My Experiments with Truth contains the quoted wording about a book stimulating his interest in dietetics. mkgandhi.org
   • In Julius Caesar, Brutus says Cassius whetted him against Caesar; the object is a person. gutenberg.org
2. 2
   sharpenverbtransitive

   To sharpen a blade or tool by honing it against a hard surface such as a stone.

   The butcher whetted his cleaver on a steel before each cut.

   Soldiers would whet their blades the night before a battle.

   UsageUsually whet a blade on a stone or steel; in everyday talk, sharpen is more common.

   Similarstrop, steel

   Oppositeblunt, dull

   Note

   The sharpening sense the others grow from: Old English hwettan, from a root meaning "sharp", already meant "incite" as well as "sharpen". Its objects are edges: Shakespeare's knife, the mower's scythe in Milton's L'Allegro. Byron stretches it to an eagle's beak. Steel and strop name particular ways of putting an edge on; whet is the general word, and the stone you do it with is a whetstone. Source

   Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 5 facts

   • Whet descends from Old English hwettan, which meant both 'sharpen' and 'incite'. en.wiktionary.org
   • The etymological root means 'sharp'. en.wiktionary.org
   • Shakespeare uses whet of a knife, in The Merchant of Venice; Bassanio addresses Shylock. en.wikisource.org
   • Milton's L'Allegro describes a mower whetting his scythe. en.wikisource.org
   • Byron uses whet of an eagle's beak, in Childe Harold's Pilgrimage. dev.gutenberg.org
3. 3
   act of sharpeningnouncountable

   An instance of sharpening or honing something, such as a blade drawn against a stone.

   Grandpa gave his pocketknife a quick whet on the stone before cutting the rope.

   He gave the scythe a quick whet at the end of each row before mowing on.

   UsageUse give something a whet, as in “give the knife a quick whet.”

   Similarsharpening

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