whet (hwet)

[ You are cloy'd with the Preparative, and what you mean for a Whet turns the Edge of your puny Stomachs. Congreve, Old Batchelor, i. 4. whether He had a isted at four hundred bowls of punch, not to mention sips, drams, and whets without number. Add is on , Spectator. Mr. Mayor gives a whet [a light luncheon] to-day after church, when he hopes you will attend. Quoted in N. and Q., 7th ser., XI. 55. whetherl (hweri'er), a . and pron . [Formerly also contr. wher, where ; whether , what her, whæther, wether , wather , hwether , hwather , queth er, also contr. wher , hwethar , hueder = OFries. hweder , hoder = MLG. weder, wedder , LG. wedder , weer = OHG. hwedar, huedar , wedar , which of two, MHG. G. weder = Icel. hvadharr , contr. hvarr , hvorr = Goth. hwathar , which (of two); = OBulg. Ru . kotoruit , which, = L. uter (for * cuter ) = Gr. κότερος, πότερος = Skt. katara , which (of two); with compar. suffix- ther (-der, -ter, etc.), from the base hwa of the pron. who : see who , and cf. what1, etc. Cf. either .] I. a. A. interrog. Which (of two)? which one? B. rel . (always in compound relative use, or with the antecedent implied, not expre ed). Which (of two, or, le exactly, of more than two). When the father him bethought, And sig he [saw] to whether side it drough. Gower, Conf. Amant., ii. I woulde gladly knowe in whether booke you haue read moste, which is to wit, in Vegetius, which entreat eth of matters of wars, or in S. Augustine his boke of Christ iă doctrine. Guevara, Letters (tr. by Hellowes, 1577), p. 238. But to whether side fortune would have been partial could not be determined. Sir P. Sidney, Arcadia, iii. II. pron. A. interrog . Which (of two, or of the two)? which one (of two)? Whether of them [the, R. V.] twain did the will of his father? Mat. xxi. 31. B. rel. Which (of two); which one (of two); also, more indefinitely, whichever. Well, I will hear, or sleep, I care not whether. Beau. and Fl., Captain, ii. 2. It may be a question among men of noble sentiments, whether of these unfortunate persons had the greater soul. Steele, Tatler, No. 5. "Chese now," quod she, "oon of thise thinges tweye. Now chese your selven whether that you liketh." Chaucer , Wife of Bath's Tale, 1. 371. Bothe zonge & oolde, whethir ze be, In cristis name good cheer ze make. Hymns to Virgin , etc. (E. E. T. S.), p. 32. To waxen or to wonien, whether God lyketh. Piers Plowman (A), viii. 59. whether1 (hweTH'er), adv . and conj. [ hwether , contr. wher , wer, hwether = ÓS. hwethar = OFries. hweder = MLG. weder , wedder = OHG. hwedar, wedar, MHG. G. weder = Icel. hvārt , whether; orig. neut. of the pron. whether : see whether, a. and pron .] I. interrog. adv. 1. Introducing the first of two direct (alternative) questions, the second being introduced by or (literally, which of these two things [is true]?). Whether is Herod, or that Youngling, King? J. Beaumont , Psyche, iii. 161. 21. Introducing a single direct question, the al⚫ternative being unexpre ed, and sometimes only dimly implied. Whether is not this the sone of a carpenter? Whether his modir be not seid [called] Marie? Wyclif , Mat. xiii. 55. Well then, if God will not allow a king too much, whe ther will he allow a subject too much? Latimer , 1st Sermon bef. Edw. VI., 1549. What author it ye thinke you meete to be given him? whether will ye allowe him to protecte, to safe conducte, and to have marshall lawe as they are accustomed? Spenser, State of Ireland. II. rel. conj. 1. Introducing the first of two (or more) alternatives, the second being introduced by or (or or whether ). Whether ze ben aposid of princes or of prest is of the lawe, For to answere hem haue ze no doute. Piers Plowman (A), xi. 289 Whether the tyranny be in his place Or in his eminence that fills it up. Shak., M. for M., i. 2. 167. Thou shalt speak my words unto them, whether they will hear or whether they will forbear. Ezek. ii. 7. But whether thus these things, or whether not; Whether the sun, predominant in heaven, Rise on the earth, or earth rise on the sun;... Solicit not thy thoughts with matters hid. Milton, P. L., viii. 159. The Moors, whether wounded or slain, were thrown headlong without the walls. Irving , Granada, p. 54. Laws may be received as indicating the dispositions of the ruler, whether for good or for evil. Pre scott, Ferd. and Isa., ii. 26. There are moments in life when the lip and the eye Try the question of whether to smile or to cry. Whittier, The Quaker Alumni. So long as men had slender means, whether of keeping out cold or checkmating it with artificial heat, Winter was an unwelcome guest, especially in the country. Lowell, Study Windows, p. 30. whether 6896 which Whether one Nym had the chain or no. Shak ., M. W. of W., iv. 5. 33. This obscure thorn-eater of malice and detraction, as well as of Quodlibets and Sophisms, knowes not whether Milton , An Apology, etc. it were illegall or not. His [Solomon's] case is left disputable to this day, whether he ever recovered by repentance or no. who or that which whets or sharpens. Love, like other sweet things, is no whetter of the stomach. Fielding , Joseph Andrews. (Latham.) 2t. Specifically, one who indulges in whets or drams; a dram-drinker; a tippler. There are in and about the Royal-Exchange a sort of people commonly known by the name of Whetters , who neither drunk nor sober before the hours of Exchange or busine . Stilling fleet, Sermons, II. iii. drink themselves into an intermediate state of being Whether we are in Danger or no at present, 'twere Presumption in me to judge. Howell, Letters, I. vi. 11. To that frere wyll I go, And bring him to you, Whether he wyl or no. Playe of Robyn Hode (Child's Ballads, V. 421). 2. Introducing a single alternative, the other being implied: as, I do not know whether he is yet gone [or not]. God woot wher he was like a manly knyghte. Chaucer, Troilus, ii. 1263, You shall demand of him whether one Captain Dumain be i' the camp. Shak., All's Well, iv. 3. 199. These are but winds and flaws to try the floting ve ell of our faith whether it be stanch and sayl well. Milton , Church-Government, i. 7. These dark doctrines and puzzling pa ages were inserted to be the test of ingenuous, of sincere and well disposed minds: to see, whether , when we were once satisfied that a book came from God, we would acquiesce in every thing contained in it. Bp . Atterbury , Sermons, II. ix. Whether or no. See nol. He would be as likely to believe me guilty as not. What would he do, whether or no? Dickens , Bleak House, lii. whether2+, adv . An obsolete form of whither . whether ing (hwerH'er-ing), n. [Origin obscure.] The retention of the afterbirth in IMG:content-2289.png:[blocks in formation] Warne alle the compaignye that longen to this frater nite, man and woman, with-inne the toune, to the exsequies of hym or of hir that is deede, whethir -80 it be. English Gilds (E. E. T. S.), p. 74.