whetstone

n.
A hard, fine-grained stone for honing tools. Also called snakestone.

[HWEHT-stohn; WEHT-stohn] Whetstones, also called oilstones, are rectangular blocks made of the extremely hard carborundum (a composition of silicon carbide). They are fine grained, often with one side slightly coarser than the other. Knives should periodically be honed on whetstones to keep them really sharp. This is done by first lubricating the stone with oil or water, then drawing the knife blade with slight pressure across the whetstone at about a 20-degree angle. Doing this 5 to 6 times on each side of the knife is adequate. If the whetstone's two sides are of differing textures, this activity should be performed first on the coarser side and finished on the finer-grained side. This will give the knife an even sharper edge. The sharpness of a knife's blade can be maintained by using a sharpening steel prior to each use.

[Etymology: a place in England] informatics A specific computer program package representative of scientific calculation of common proportions in the 1970s, used as a benchmark to measure the power of computers.

A piece of stone, natural or artificial, used to sharpen cutting tools.

---

[Ar]

An abrasive stone, usually sandstone or siltstone of some kind, with one or more shaped faces that can be used for sharpening the blades of metal edged tools such as axes, swords, knives, awls, sickles, or chisels.

IN BRIEF: A flat stone for sharpening edged tools or knives.

The finest edge is made with the blunt whetstone. — John Lyly (1554-1606).

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

Dansk (Danish)
n. - slibesten, hvæssesten, appetitvækker, stimulans

Nederlands (Dutch)
slijpsteen

Français (French)
n. - pierre à aiguiser

Deutsch (German)
n. - Wetzstein

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - ακονόπετρα, ακονιστήρι, λαδάκονο

Italiano (Italian)
mola

Português (Portuguese)
n. - pedra de amolar (f), estímulo (m)

Русский (Russian)
оселок, точильный камень

Español (Spanish)
n. - piedra de afilar, afiladera

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - slipsten

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
磨石, 油石

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 磨石, 油石

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 숫돌, 자극물, 타산지석

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 刺激物, 砥石

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) حجر الشحذ, مشحذ, مسن, فاتح الشهيه, مقدمات الطعام‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮אבן משחזת‬

If you are unable to view some languages clearly, click here.

To select your translation preferences click here.