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Definition of whet verb from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

whet

verb
 
/wet/
 
/wet/
Verb Forms
present simple I / you / we / they whet
 
/wet/
 
/wet/
he / she / it whets
 
/wets/
 
/wets/
past simple whetted
 
/ˈwetɪd/
 
/ˈwetɪd/
past participle whetted
 
/ˈwetɪd/
 
/ˈwetɪd/
-ing form whetting
 
/ˈwetɪŋ/
 
/ˈwetɪŋ/
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  1. whet something to increase your desire for or interest in something
    • The book will whet your appetite for more of her work.
    Extra Examples
    • So, if this has whetted your appetite for setting up your own website, how should you get started?
    • The long walk had whetted my appetite.
    • This success whetted my appetite to go in for more competitions.
    Oxford Collocations DictionaryWhet is used with these nouns as the object:
    • appetite
    • knife
    See full entry
    Word OriginOld English hwettan, of Germanic origin; related to German wetzen, based on an adjective meaning ‘sharp’.
See whet in the Oxford Advanced American Dictionary
previously
adverb
 
 
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