whetstone

[A. S. hwatstán.] [WHET, v.] I. Ordinary Language: slab, used for sharpening cutlery or tools. Scythe- 1. Lit .: A piece of stone, usually a rectangular stones are bellied, and taper toward the ends. Many varieties of stone, especially of the slaty kinds, are more or le perfectly adapted for the purpose. Some, however, are peculiarly suited for imparting a fine edge to tools, command a high price, and are generally used in the workshop as oilstones. "I'd rather, I, Be like a whetstone , that an edge can put On steel, though't self be dull and cannot cut." Ben Jonson: Horace; Art of Poetry. 2. Fig .: Anything which sharpens, excites, or stimulates. II. Petrol .: A siliceous clay-slate, compact and of homogeneous texture. Used for sharpening edge tools. Called also Whets late and Whetstone-slate. To give the whetstone, To deserve the whetstone: Old phrases, in which the whetstone is a ociated with lying, and regarded as the proper premium for accomplishment in that art. whetstone-slate, s. [WHETSTONE, II.] whet-ter, s. [Eng. whet, v.; -er.] 1. One who or that which whets, sharpens, or stimulates. "The air upon Banstead Downs is nothing to it for a whetter; yet I never see it, but the spirit of famine appears to me."- Congreve : Love for Love , i. *2. One who indulges in whets or drams; a tippler; a dram-drinker. "The whetter is obliged to refresh himself every moment with a liquor as the snuff-taker with a powder." Steele : Tatler , No. 141. whew (ew as ū), interj. or s. [From the sound made.] A sound expre ive of astonishment, aversion, or contempt. "Lepel suppre ed a whew."-Hannay Singleton Fonte noy. whew-duck, s . [See extract under WHEWER.] whew (ew as ū), v. i . [WHEW, interj .] To whistle with a shrill pipe, as plovers. ( Prov .)