whet

tr.v., whet·ted, whet·ting, whets.

1. To sharpen (a knife, for example); hone.
2. To make more keen; stimulate: The frying bacon whetted my appetite.

n.

1. The act of whetting.
2. Something that whets.
3. Informal. An appetizer.

[Middle English whetten, from Old English hwettan.]

verb

To give a sharp edge to: acuminate, edge, hone¹, sharpen. See sharp/dull.

v

Definition: arouse, excite
Antonyms: blunt, dampen, dishearten

v

Definition: sharpen
Antonyms: blunt, dull

---

IN BRIEF: Make keen or more acute.

The delicious smells coming from the kitchen served to whet our appetites for dinner.

Tutor's tip: Another word that sounds similar to whet which means to make more keen, is wet which means to be moist.

Dansk (Danish)
v. tr. - slibe, hvæsse, skærpe
n. - slibning, hvæssen, stimulering, appetitvækker

Nederlands (Dutch)
scherp maken, stimuleren (eetlust)

Français (French)
v. tr. - stimuler (l'appétit), donner envie de, aiguiser (un couteau)
n. - stimulation, stimulant, amuse-gueule (fam)

Deutsch (German)
v. - wetzen, anregen, reizen, anspornen
n. - Wetzen, Anreger

Ελληνική (Greek)
v. - ακονίζω, τροχίζω, (μτφ.) διεγείρω, οξύνω

Italiano (Italian)
affilare

Português (Portuguese)
v. - afiar, excitar

Русский (Russian)
заточка, период, стимул, бодрящее средство, точить, обострять

Español (Spanish)
v. tr. - estimular, avivar, afilar
n. - estímulo, estimulante, aperitivo

Svenska (Swedish)
v. - vässa, slipa, skärpa

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
磨, 使兴奋, 磨快, 开胃物, 磨利之物

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
v. tr. - 磨, 使興奮, 磨快
n. - 磨, 開胃物, 磨利之物

한국어 (Korean)
v. tr. - (칼 따위를) 갈다, (식욕 따위를) 자극하다
n. - 갊, 자극[물], 잠시

日本語 (Japanese)
v. - 研ぐ, 刺激する, そそる
n. - 研磨, 刺激, 刺激物

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(فعل) يشحذ, يهيج, يحرك, يثير‏

עברית (Hebrew)
v. tr. - ‮השחיז, חידד, עורר, גירה‬
n. - ‮השחזה, חידוד, גירוי‬

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

To select your translation preferences click here.