• (British) IPA: /ˈwɛt/
  • (without wine–whine) IPA: /ˈʍɛt/
• (America) IPA: /ˈwɛt/, [ˈwɛ(ʔ)t̚]
  • (without wine–whine) IPA: /ˈʍɛt/, [ˈʍɛ(ʔ)t̚]

whet (whets, present participle whetting; past and past participle whetted)

1. (transitive) To hone or rub on with some substance, as a piece of stone, for the purpose of sharpening – see whetstone.
   • circa 1596-97 William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice, Act IV scene i:

     Why dost thou whet thy knife so earnestly?

   • a. 1645, John Milton, “L'Allegro”, in Poems of Mr. John Milton, […] , London: Printed by Ruth Raworth for Humphrey Moſely,  […], published 1645, OCLC 606951673 ↗, page 33 ↗:

     And the Mower whets his scythe#English|ſithe,

   • Here 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

   • circa 1599 William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar (play), Act II scene i:

     Since Cassius first did whet me against Caesar, / I have not slept.

   • 1925-29, Mahadev Desai (translator), Mahatma Gandhi, The Story of My Experiments with Truth, Part I, chapter xv:

     My faith in vegetarianism grew on me from day to day. Salt's book whetted my appetite for dietetic studies. I went in for all books available on vegetarianism and read them.

3. (transitive, obsolete) To preen.

• French: aiguiser
• German: wetzen
• Italian: affilare
• Portuguese: amolar, afiar
• Russian: точи́ть
• Spanish: afilar

• Italian: stimolare, stuzzicare
• Portuguese: aguçar, estimular
• Russian: возбужда́ть
• Spanish: estimular

whet (plural whets)

1. The act of whetting something.
2. That which whets or sharpens; especially, an appetizer.

   • sips, drams, and whets

   • 1769, Elizabeth Raffald, The Experienced English Housekeeper

     To make a nice Whet before Dinner […]