Whet

Pronunciation

• IPA: /wÉ›t/
• IPA: /ʍɛt/ in accents without the wine-whine merger
• Rhymes: -É›t
• Homophones: wet

Origin

From Middle English whetten, from Old English hwettan ("to whet, sharpen, incite, encourage"), from Proto-Germanic *hwatjaną ("to incite, sharpen"), from Proto-Indo-European *kʷēd- ("sharp"). Cognate with Dutch wetten ("to whet, sharpen"), German wetzen ("to whet, sharpen"), Icelandic hvetja ("to whet, encourage, catalyze") Danish dialectal hvæde ("to whet").

Full definition of whet

Verb

1. (transitive) To hone or rub on with some substance, as a piece of stone, for the purpose of sharpening – see whetstone.
• MiltonThe mower whets his scythe.
• ByronHere roams the wolf, the eagle whets his beak.
2. (transitive) To stimulate or make more keen.to whet one's appetite or one's courage
• ShakespeareSince Cassius first did whet me against Caesar,
  I have not slept.
• 2003-10-20, Naomi Wolf, The Porn Myth, New York MagazineIn the end, porn doesn’t whet men’s appetites—it turns them off the real thing.

Derived terms

• whetstone

Noun

1. The act of whetting something.
2. That which whets or sharpens; especially, an appetizer.
• Spectator
• sips, drams, and whets

Anagrams

• thew