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whet

American  
[hwet, wet] / ʰwɛt, wɛt /

verb (used with object)

whetted, whetting

  1. to sharpen (a knife, tool, etc.) by grinding or friction.

  2. to make keen or eager; stimulate.

    to whet the appetite; to whet the curiosity.

noun

  1. the act of whetting.

  2. something that whets; appetizer or drink.

  3. Chiefly Southern U.S.

    1. a spell of work.

    2. a while.

      to talk a whet.
whet British  
/ wɛt /

verb

  1. to sharpen, as by grinding or friction

  2. to increase or enhance (the appetite, desire, etc); stimulate

"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

noun

  1. the act of whetting

  2. a person or thing that whets

"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

Other Word Forms

  • unwhetted adjective
  • whetter noun

Etymology

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

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.