Whet definition
An example of whet is when you take a tiny taste of delicious food and want more.
An example of whet is when you rub a knife edge against a sharpening stone.
The frying bacon whetted my appetite.
To whet the appetite.
Origin of whet
- Middle English whetten from Old English hwettan
From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
- From Middle English whetten, from Old English hwettan (“to whet, sharpen, incite, encourage"), from Proto-Germanic *hwatjanÄ… (“to incite, sharpen"), from Proto-Indo-European *kÊ·Ä“d- (“sharp"). Cognate with Dutch wetten (“to whet, sharpen"), German wetzen (“to whet, sharpen"), Danish dialectal hvæde (“to whet").
From Wiktionary