Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- v. To sharpen (a knife, for example); hone.
- v. To make more keen; stimulate: The frying bacon whetted my appetite.
- n. The act of whetting.
- n. Something that whets.
- n. Informal An appetizer.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- To make sharp; sharpen (an edged or pointed tool or weapon) by rubbing it on a stone, or with an implement of stone or other material.
- To make sharp, keen, or eager; excite; stimulate: as, to whet the appetite.
- To rub; scratch.
- To prune or preen; trim.
- To cut with a knife.
- n. The act of sharp-ening by friction; hence, something that provokes or stimulates; especially, something that whets the appetite, as a dram.
Wiktionary
- v. transitive To hone or rub on with some substance, as a piece of stone, for the purpose of sharpening – see whetstone.
- v. transitive To stimulate or make more keen.
GNU Webster's 1913
- v. To rub or on with some substance, as a piece of stone, for the purpose of sharpening; to sharpen by attrition.
- v. To make sharp, keen, or eager; to excite; to stimulate.
- n. The act of whetting.
- n. That which whets or sharpens; esp., an appetizer.
WordNet 3.0
- v. sharpen by rubbing, as on a whetstone
- v. make keen or more acute
Etymologies
- From Middle English whetten, from Old English hwettan ("to whet, sharpen, incite, encourage"), from Proto-Germanic *hwatjanan (“to incite, sharpen”), from Proto-Indo-European *kʷēd- (“sharp”). Cognate with Dutch wetten ("to whet, sharpen"), German wetzen ("to whet, sharpen"), Danish dialectal hvæde ("to whet"). (Wiktionary)
- Middle English whetten, from Old English hwettan. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“They're not "wet stones" but rather "whetstones" as in "whet: to make keen or more acute;" whet my appetite "; to sharpen by rubbing, as on a whetstone”
Learn To Sharpen Good Knives With Water Stones | Lifehacker Australia
“Theres a pair of imbeciles around here called whet (nee sven) and ashie for perfect examples of such stupidity.”
“Do you think this had kind of whet your appetite for more animation?”
“For the first time, a Government of independent Sri Lanka has appointed a military censor to "whet" and "cut" media reports relating to sensitive material on the war.”
“I would like to nominate "whet" and "bobthedog" purely on the fact they are both tree hugging PC fu-cktards, who would rather fight for the rights of fugees than they would for the rights of the people who actually deserve it.”
“But then when I heard about the players who were going to play in the league, it kind of whet my appetite to want to try it again.”
“Mademoiselle Presle does not seem to have taken part in 'Don Quichotte;' but she was well known as 'première danseuse' in 'La Belle Laitière, La Fête Chinoise,' and other ballets.]] [Footnote 97: For "whet" Editions 1-5 read "raise.”
“I can promise you that all the wonderful "lobsterology" contained in these books will only serve to whet your appetite for the main course.”
“A few of these -- "Only the Rest of My Life." sung by York and David Burnham, and "The Measure of Love," sung by Sally Mayes and Howard McGillin -- whet one's appetite for the show itself, identified in the program simply as N.”
“Critics, who often noted that Virginia ranks third in the number of current and retired federal employees, suggested that the bills were meant to mainly whet the appetites of tea party voters.”
The Washington Post: Virginia's General Assembly pushes bills designed for the polls
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘whet’.
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Muse's tacet ,to learn
Music brings silence's to raging thoughts and temperament , calm, as it is our object of definite purpose.
tacet, cadence, tempo, treble clef, penultimate, lexicon, origin, orchestra, kantele, magus, eros, coalesce and 248 more...
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EN - archaic words
abide, abjure, abroad, adamant, afield, aforetime, aghast, anon, apace, argent, assuage, aught and 328 more...
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GRE 2014
abase, abate, abdicate, aberrant, abeyance, abhor, abjure, abortive, abound, abrasive, abreast, abridge and 1577 more...
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Naresh_Gre2
convoke, cosset, coterie, declaim, distaff, doff, dovetail, droll, dyspeptic, egress, ersatz, euphemism and 108 more...
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Words build meanings from origins( et...
These come from gamma meditation ,I think.
discursive, exogenous, machinations, purportedly, sumptuous, congruity, cantankerous, incongruous, festoon, hessian, ratiocinative, stratigraphic and 2057 more...
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Philosophic , etymology
every major discipline has uniquely developed esoteric nomenclature to facilitate interdisciplinary dissemination
quale , qualia, elegy, tacet, lexicon, annunciate, caste, eros, contrive, purlicue, irony, venacular, dilapidate and 569 more...
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Moby Dick
Words of interest from the book Moby Dick.
arrant, obstreperously, coffer-dam, farrago, rejoinder, counterpane, hamper, commend, grego, dreadnought, psalmody, expostulation and 85 more...
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GRE Reference
A list of words unfamiliar to me that I have repeatedly encountered in GRE question sets.
parochial, clique, salacious, aegis, ostracize, conceited, sacrilegious, inane, serendipity, gourmand, polemic, tenuous and 138 more...
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Appellations
States of ment.
off kilter, fervent, nonchalant, exuberant, turbid, verbose, eloquent, vicarious, gallivant, orotund, amalgamate, accentuate and 285 more...
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Favorites
ostensibly, surreptitiously, seriously, apparently, vociferous, guitar, asphalt, glee, glitter, fascinating, asynchronous, cunt and 128 more...
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everythingecstatic's Words
cadence, frenetic, eloquence, paradigm, nocturne, elusive, effervescence, soliloquy, plethora, elision, aqueous, transcend and 166 more...
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GRE AWA
escalating, vehement, vehemence, hostility, paparazzi, regime, irrespective, scoop, exaggerated, overblown, unfetter, scrupulous and 272 more...
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The Last Werewolf
This novel by Glen Duncan, aside from being a ripping yarn and beautifully written, is just littered with words that I had to look up and discover that often his use of the word not only fitted per...
gurns, bok, chimney breast, dichotomy, Platonic form, filthy, Platonic Form, mathematics, BAM, skirls, clarity, blundering and 298 more...
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ADW2
nudnik, temper, intercalate, cleave, scowl, chapfallen, malapropos, disport, annals, paean, paradisiacal, whet and 362 more...
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Vocab++
Words as I learn them.
fetid, mezzanine, hiatus, austerity, subliminal, resplendent, implacable, impugn, debase, exiguous, cirque, holster and 2538 more...
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From Book - SAT & College Dictionary ...
ebb, exotic, immure, abeyance, panegyric, debonair, protege, dissipate, frantic, penitent, abject, edify and 871 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for whet.
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