whetting

verb

present participle of whet
as in sharpening
to make sharp or sharper whetted the knife with the grindstone

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of whetting After six weeks whetting blades in the factory on a grinding belt, Brigitte received a silver motorbike. — Simon Akam, Vanity Fair, 2 Apr. 2026 The announcement lands at the close of Marché du Film, where Japan was this year’s country of honor, and caps a busy session for Frontières Platform, which in recent years has been a key player in whetting the growing appetite for genre film at both the Cannes’ festival and market. — Jennie Punter, Variety, 22 May 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for whetting
  1. sharpening
  2. grinding
Verb
  • Companies that act early—by strengthening resilience, investing in capacity, sharpening worker skills, and rethinking supply chains—will be better positioned to capture demand as it shifts.
    — Eric Kutcher, Fortune, 2 July 2026
  • The attention to sharpening those skills could be paying off.
    — Shreyas Laddha, Kansas City Star, 2 July 2026
Definition of sharpening
Verb
  • The hike includes the park’s east side on the Grasslands Trail, which leads to a Kumeyaay grinding rocks site and the scenic Old Mission Dam overlook.
    — Linda Mcintosh, San Diego Union-Tribune, 3 July 2026
  • Those particles may have been grinding in the joint, causing mechanical wear on the cobalt-chromium femoral head that released cobalt into the surrounding tissue and bloodstream.
    — Beth Mole, ArsTechnica, 2 July 2026
Definition of grinding

Browse Nearby Words

whetted
whetting
whey-faced
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Cite this Entry

“Whetting.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/whetting. Accessed 8 Jul. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on whetting

Nglish: Translation of whetting for Spanish Speakers

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