whet

/wet/

Thân thiện

He whets the blade of his pocketknife on a smooth whetstone.

Definition

1. Verb (transitive):
   • To sharpen a blade or tool by rubbing it against a hard, abrasive surface: This is the original, literal meaning of the word, referring to the act of grinding an edge to make it sharper, typically using a whetstone.
   • To make something more keen, intense, or acute: This figurative meaning refers to stimulating, enhancing, or increasing the intensity of a non-physical thing, such as a sense, a feeling, a desire, or an ability.

Examples of Usage

• Literal meaning (sharpening):

  • He carefully whetted the blade of his hunting knife before the trip.
  • The chef whets her best knives on a ceramic rod every morning.

• Figurative meaning (stimulating/intensifying):

  • The previews before the movie only served to whet my curiosity about the main feature.
  • Reading that travel blog really whetted my desire to visit Japan.

Advanced Usage

• "To whet someone's appetite": This is a very common idiom meaning to stimulate someone's desire or interest, especially for food or for an upcoming experience. It is the most frequent figurative use of the word.
  • The delicious aromas from the kitchen whetted our appetites for dinner.
  • The first chapter is designed to whet the reader's appetite for the rest of the novel.

Variants and Related Words

• Whetstone (n): A flat stone used for sharpening blades.

  • He keeps an oiled whetstone in his workshop for sharpening tools.

• Unwhetted (adj): Not sharpened or stimulated. (Rare, literary)

  • His unwhetted curiosity left him indifferent to the mystery.

Synonyms

• Sharpen: To make an edge sharp (literal); to make more acute (figurative).
• Stimulate: To encourage or incite activity or development.
• Heighten: To increase the intensity or degree of.
• Excite: To stir up feelings or interest.

Antonyms

• Dull: To make less sharp.
• Blunt: To make less sharp or less intense.
• Satiate: To satisfy fully, often to the point of reducing desire.

Related Phrases and Idioms

• "To whet the whistle": A humorous or informal variant of "to wet one's whistle," meaning to have a drink. Note: This phrase uses "wet," not "whet," but the similarity in sound sometimes causes confusion.

Học thuật

Verb

1. sharpen by rubbing, as on a whetstone
2. make keen or more acute
   • whet my appetite

Từ đồng nghĩa

• quicken