whetten

From whet +‎ -en.

whetten (third-person singular simple present whettens, present participle whettening, simple past and past participle whettened)

1. (transitive, rare) To whet.

• wenteth

• whette, whætte, whettyn, qwete, whett

From Old English hwettan, from Proto-Germanic *hwatjaną.

• IPA^(key): /ˈʍɛtən/

whetten

1. To sharpen; to make sharp, pointy or acute, especially with a whetstone.
2. To sharpen one's claws or tusks; to prepare for attack.
3. To motivate; to encourage or cause eagerness.
4. (rare) To stimulate or increase endurance.
5. (rare) To growl or groan; to make hostile noises.
6. (rare) Of the teeth or feet; to grind against something.

• whestone
• whettynge

• English: whet
• Scots: what

• “whetten (v.)” in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-07-19.