cstr/en-wiktionary-extracted-all huggingface dataset:
vamper
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈvæmpə(ɹ)/
rhymes: -æmpə(ɹ)
Forms: form: vampers
form: vampering
form: vampered
form: vampered
Etymology: Compare vaunt.
Senses: examples: text: The temple of thy body, look with scorn,
Why doth that vamper'd glution eat no more
ref: 1764, Charles Churchill, The Times:
glosses: To swagger; to make an ostentatious show.
vanner
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Forms: form: vanners
Etymology: From van (“vehicle”) + -er.
Senses: glosses: One who owns and drives a van.
vanner
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Forms: form: vanners
Etymology: From van (“wash oar”) + -er.
Senses: glosses: A machine for concentrating ore.
Derived terms: Frue vanner
varier
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Forms: form: variers
Etymology: From vary + -er.
Senses: glosses: One who varies.
glosses: A wanderer; one who strays in search of variety.
vaunt
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: enpr: vônt
ipa: /vɔːnt/
enpr: vônt
ipa: /vɔnt/
enpr: vänt
ipa: /vɑnt/
rhymes: -ɔːnt
Forms: form: vaunts
form: vaunting
form: vaunted
form: vaunted
Etymology: From Middle English vaunten, from Anglo-Norman vaunter, variant of Old French vanter, from Latin vānus (“vain, boastful”).
Senses: examples: text: "The number," said he, "is great, but what can be expected from mere citizen soldiers? They vaunt and menace in time of safety; none are so arrogant when the enemy is at a distance; but when the din of war thunders at the gates they hide themselves in terror."
ref: 1829, Washington Irving, chapter XC, in Chronicle of the Conquest of Granada:
glosses: To speak boastfully.
glosses: To speak boastfully about.
examples: text: Charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up.
ref: 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 1 Cor Cor-Chapter-xiii/#4 xiii:4:
text: My vanquisher, spoiled of his vaunted spoil.
ref: 1667, John Milton, “Book III”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:
glosses: To boast of; to make a vain display of; to display with ostentation.
Synonyms: sense: speak boastfully
word: boast
sense: speak boastfully
word: brag
Derived terms: vaunter
vaunt
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: enpr: vônt
ipa: /vɔːnt/
enpr: vônt
ipa: /vɔnt/
enpr: vänt
ipa: /vɑnt/
rhymes: -ɔːnt
Forms: form: vaunts
Etymology: From Middle English vaunten, from Anglo-Norman vaunter, variant of Old French vanter, from Latin vānus (“vain, boastful”).
Senses: examples: text: the spirits beneath, whom I seduced / with other promises and other vaunts
ref: 1667, John Milton, “Book IV”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:
text: “In every vaunt you make,” she said, “I have my triumph. I single out in you the meanest man I know, the parasite and tool of the proud tyrant, that his wound may go the deeper, and may rankle more. Boast, and revenge me on him! […]”
ref: 1846 October 1 – 1848 April 1, Charles Dickens, Dombey and Son, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1848, →OCLC:
text: He has answered me back, vaunt for vaunt, rhetoric for rhetoric. He has lifted the only shield I cannot break, the shield of an impenetrable pomposity.
ref: 1904, Gilbert K[eith] Chesterton, “Enter a Lunatic”, in The Napoleon of Notting Hill, London; New York, N.Y.: John Lane, The Bodley Head, →OCLC, book II, page 106:
glosses: An instance of vaunting; a boast.
vaunt
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: enpr: vônt
ipa: /vɔːnt/
enpr: vônt
ipa: /vɔnt/
enpr: vänt
ipa: /vɑnt/
rhymes: -ɔːnt
Forms: form: vaunts
Etymology: From French avant (“before, fore”). See avant, vanguard.
Senses: examples: text: the vaunt and firstlings of those broils
ref: c. 1602, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Troylus and Cressida”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act PROLOGUE, (please specify the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals)]:
glosses: The first part.
Related terms: vaunt-courier
vee
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈviː/
homophone: ve
rhymes: -iː
Forms: form: vees
Senses: examples: text: Gussa-Merry-Mingo-Pip-Perry-Pingo is the name of the little old man who looks after the aitch-oh-vee-ee-ar-cee-ay-ar-pee-ee-tee-blank-ar-eye-dee-ee-ess.
ref: 2004, Will Rogers, The Stonking Steps, page 170:
text: RV [is spoken] as "ar-vee" instead of "I SPELL Romeo Victor".
ref: 2016 CCEB, Communications Instructions Radiotelephone Procedures: ACP125 (G), p. 3-5
glosses: The name of the Latin-script letter V/v.
examples: text: One of [the men] took up both spaces on the pink sofa, while the other two drew up chairs from a nearby table and squeezed into them. The armrests were forced out into a tired vee, to the accompaniment of an uneasy creaking sound.
ref: 1989, Grant Naylor, Red Dwarf:
text: The river leapt and rippled like a lizard. Geese flew over in a vee, crying to the sky.
ref: 2013, Nancy Springer, We Don't Know Why:
text: York's new railway offices are rather smart, tucked into the vee of York South Junction where the freight lines diverge to avoid the station.
ref: 2019 December 4, Philip Haigh, “Trains, tickets and tests: LNER outlines its targets”, in Rail, page 62:
glosses: Something with the shape of the letter V.
topics: ball-games
cricket
games
hobbies
lifestyle
sports
glosses: The arc of the field, forward of the batsman, from cover to midwicket, in which drives are played.
topics: ball-games
cricket
games
hobbies
lifestyle
sports
glosses: The V-shaped joint between the lower end of the handle and the blade of the bat.
glosses: A polyamorous relationship between three people, in which one person has two partners who are not themselves romantically or sexually involved.
topics: computing
engineering
mathematics
media
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
publishing
sciences
typography
glosses: A unit of vertical spacing, typically corresponding to the height of an ordinary line of text.
Derived terms: Empty-Vee
jayvee
teevee
three-vee
Vee Dub
veejay
veep
veepee
vee
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈviː/
homophone: ve
rhymes: -iː
Forms: form: vees
form: veeing
form: veed
form: veed
Senses: examples: text: As the metal melts it is veed out with the paddle for about 2 in.
ref: 1925, Oxweld Acetylene Company, The Oxwelder's Manual: Instructions for Welding and Cutting, page 166:
text: Use a die grinder to vee out the crack or to remove pounded-out metal where the valve seat came loose.
ref: 2005, Richard Finch, Performance Welding Handbook, page 83:
glosses: To form something into a "v" shape, particularly as part of a welding, machining, or manufacturing process.
Related terms: english: etymologically unrelated
translation: etymologically unrelated
word: say la vee
veery
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈvɪəɹi/
rhymes: -ɪəɹi
Forms: form: veeries
Etymology: Probably imitative of the bird's call. Attested since the 19th century.
Senses: examples: text: In such safe retreats, when the somber shade is brightened here and there with stray beams of sunlight, in the warmth of which myriad insects bathe their wings and flutter away their little span of life, humming a quaint refrain to the gargle of the rivulet, the Veery meets his mate — the song rises — the wooed is won — the home is made.
ref: 1878, Elliott Coues, “Wilson’s Thrush, or Veery”, in Birds of the Colorado Valley, page 42:
synonyms: Wilson's thrush
glosses: An American thrush (Catharus fuscescens) common in the Northern United States and Canada.
veldt
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Forms: form: veldts
Senses: examples: text: And Thane nodded and staggered blindly upward, only to sag again in a heap upon the veldt.
ref: 1912, F[rancis] Bancroft, chapter III, in The Veldt Dwellers, 3rd edition, London: Hutchinson & Co. […], →OCLC, book IV, page 296:
text: South of the Zambesi, the frontier-line separates the high veldt and the low veldt regions, the line itself sometimes running along the crest and sometimes through the middle of the broken escarpment where the high granite tablelands break down towards the sea.
ref: 1995, Malyn [D. D.] Newitt, “The Interior South of the Zambesi in the Sixteenth Century”, in A History of Mozambique, Bloomington; Indianapolis, Ind.: Indiana University Press, →ISBN, page 31:
text: You can extend the idea of isograms to sentences that don't repeat any letters. Interestingly, there are several English sentences that use each letter exactly once. They're all pretty weird and either borrow from other languages or use acronyms that were later accepted as English words. For example:
Veldt jynx grimps waqf zho buck
As I'm typing this, my word processor is marking each of the above words (save for “buck”) as spelled incorrectly, though I promise they're real words. Honest.
ref: 2015 February 26, “CS106A Practice Midterm 2 Solutions”, in Stanford University, page 2:
text: In the flatness of the veldts, one would want to communicate with someone else in order to provide theme and variation to the unbounded and unfettered thoughts stretching outward, inspired by the immense sameness of this place.
ref: 2018, Tendai Rinos Mwanaka, “Ruins”, in Keys in the River: New and Collected Stories, Chitungwiza, Zimbabwe: Mwanaka Media and Publishing, →ISBN, page 60:
text: I forgot, in short, that I’d spent nearly five years scanning the veldt for threats, indulging in the most neurotic form of magical thinking, convinced that my monitoring of Twitter alone was what stood between Trump and national ruin, just as Erica Jong believed that her concentration and vigilance were what kept her flight from plunging into the sea.
ref: 2023 December 8, Jennifer Senior, “What Will Happen to the American Psyche If Trump Is Reelected?”, in The Atlantic, archived from the original on 08 Dec 2023:
glosses: Dated spelling of veld.
Related terms: veldt shoe
verier
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Senses: glosses: comparative form of very: more very (complete, absolute)
verser
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈvɝsɚ/
ipa: /ˈvɜːsə/
rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)sə(ɹ)
Forms: form: versers
Etymology: From verse + -er.
Senses: glosses: A versifier.
vetoer
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Forms: form: vetoers
Etymology: From veto + -er.
Senses: glosses: One who exercises the power to refuse approval.
vie
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /vaɪ/
rhymes: -aɪ
Forms: form: vies
Etymology: Aphetic form of envy.
Senses: glosses: A contest.
Related terms: a-vie
eau de vie
life estate pur autre vie
vis
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: /vɪs/
Forms: form: vires
Etymology: From Latin vīs.
Senses: glosses: Force; energy; might; power.
Derived terms: vis absoluta
vis activa
vis a tergo
vis comica
vis compulsiva
vis impressa
vis inertiae
vis major
vis medicatrix naturae
vis mortua
vis motrix
vis passiva
vis vitae
vis vitalis
vis viva
Related terms: vim
virial
vis
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: /vɪs/
Senses: glosses: Abbreviation of viscount.
vis
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /vɪs/
rhymes: -ɪs
ipa: /vɪs/
Forms: form: visses
Etymology: From Tamil வீசை (vīcai) and/or Telugu వీసె (vīse).
Senses: glosses: Alternative spelling of viss.
vis
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: ipa: /vɪs/
rhymes: -ɪs
Forms: form: viz
Senses: glosses: Clipping of visual.
vis
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /vɪs/
rhymes: -ɪs
Forms: form: viss
form: vising
form: vised
form: vised
form: viz
Senses: glosses: Clipping of visualize.
vis
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /vɪs/
rhymes: -ɪs
Forms: form: vises
form: viz
Senses: glosses: Clipping of visualization.
glosses: Clipping of visual.
glosses: Clipping of visibility.
Derived terms: hi-vis
pre-vis
volta
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Forms: form: voltas
Etymology: From Italian volta. Doublet of volte.
Senses: topics: entertainment
lifestyle
music
glosses: A turning; a time (chiefly used in phrases signifying that the part is to be repeated).
topics: dance
dancing
entertainment
hobbies
lifestyle
music
sports
synonyms: levalto
volte
glosses: A dance for couples popular during the late Renaissance, associated with the galliard and done to the same kind of music.
examples: text: […][Larmona] Ash describes how “conversion arrives like a volta [poetic shift]^([sic]) in a person's life.” The metaphor is apt, imagining one's spiritual life as a poem, an authored thing, and not preserved on vellum either, but open to revision.
ref: 2025 May 31, Tanjil Rashid, quoting Lamorna Ash, “Finding their religion”, in FT Weekend, Life & Arts, page 9:
topics: communications
journalism
literature
media
poetry
publishing
writing
glosses: A turning point or point of change in a poem, most commonly a sonnet.
wacke
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Forms: form: wackes
form: wacky
form: wacca
Etymology: Borrowed from German Wacke.
Senses: topics: geography
geology
natural-sciences
glosses: A soft, earthy, dark-coloured rock or clay derived from the alteration of basalt.
Related terms: greywacke
quartz-wacke
wackenitic
wadi
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈwɑdi/
Forms: form: wadis
form: wadies
Etymology: From Arabic وَادِي, وَادٍ (wādī, wādin, “valley, riverbed, ravine”).
Senses: synonyms: nahal
wash
glosses: A valley, gully, or stream bed in northern Africa and southwest Asia that remains dry except during the rainy season.
waiver
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈweɪ.və(ɹ)/
ipa: /ˈweɪ.vɚ/
rhymes: -eɪvə(ɹ)
homophone: waver
Forms: form: waivers
Etymology: From Anglo-Norman weyver, from waiver. Date: 1628. By surface analysis, waive + -er.
Senses: glosses: The act of waiving, or not insisting on, some right, claim, or privilege.
examples: text: I had to sign a waiver when I went skydiving, agreeing not to sue even if something went wrong.
text: Sandy Alomar Jr. cleared waivers and was outrighted to Class AA Binghamton in preparation for his promotion when rosters expand Saturday.
ref: 2007 August 30, Ben Shpigel, “Martínez to Audition for Mets’ Brain Trust”, in The New York Times:
text: Growth Energy sent the entire report to the E.P.A., but the summary it provided with its formal waiver request — and uses in press materials — said that when using E15 and E20, “there were no significant changes in vehicle tailpipe emissions, vehicle drivability or small nonroad engine emissions as ethanol content increased.”
ref: 2009 October 5, Christopher Jensen, “Critics Find Flaws in the Case Made by Ethanol Advocates”, in The New York Times:
topics: law
glosses: A legal document removing some requirement, such as waiving a right (giving it up) or a waiver of liability (agreeing to hold someone blameless).
examples: text: I needed a waiver from the department head to take the course because I didn't technically have the prerequisite courses.
text: I needed a waiver from the zoning board for the house because the lot was so small, but they let me build because it was next to the park.
glosses: Something that releases a person from a requirement.
glosses: The process of waiving or outlawing a person.
Derived terms: waivered
loan waiver
waiver wire
waiver
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈweɪ.və(ɹ)/
ipa: /ˈweɪ.vɚ/
rhymes: -eɪvə(ɹ)
homophone: waver
Forms: form: waivers
form: waivering
form: waivered
form: waivered
Etymology: From Anglo-Norman weyver, from waiver. Date: 1628. By surface analysis, waive + -er.
Senses: examples: text: The USACIDC Accreditation Division will conduct an annual reconciliation of the individual's academic achievement, through his or her unit commander, until he or she meets the waivered civilian education requirement.
ref: 1987, AR 195-3 04/22/1987 Acceptance, Accreditation, and Release of United States Army Criminal Investigation Command Personnel, US Department of Defense:
glosses: To waive (to relinquish, to forego).
glosses: Misspelling of waver.
Derived terms: waiverable
wale
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈweɪl/
ipa: [ˈweɪɫ]
rhymes: -eɪl
homophone: wail
homophone: whale (wine–whine merger)
Forms: form: wales
form: waling
form: waled
form: waled
Etymology: The noun is from Middle English wāle (“planking, welt”), from Old English walu (“ridge, bank; rib, comb (of helmet); metal ridge on top of helmet; weal, mark of a blow”), from Proto-Germanic *waluz (“stick, root”), from Proto-Indo-European *welH- (“to turn, wind, roll”). Akin to Low German wāle; Old Norse vala (“knuckle”). The verb is from late Middle English wālen, from the noun.
Senses: examples: text: Would suffer his lazy rider to bestride his patie: back, with his hands and whip to wale his flesh, and with his heels to dig into his hungry bowels?
ref: 1832, Owen Felltham, Resolves, Divine, Moral, Political:
glosses: To strike the skin in such a way as to produce a wale or welt.
examples: text: When faced with an adulthood that offered few options, grinding poverty and marriage to a man who drank too much and came home to wale on his own family or...no beatings.
ref: 2002, Hal Rothman, Neon Metropolis: How Las Vegas Started the Twenty-First Century:
glosses: To beat a person, especially as punishment or out of anger.
glosses: To give a surface a texture of wales or welts.
Related terms: wale on
whale
weal
wheal
wale
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈweɪl/
ipa: [ˈweɪɫ]
rhymes: -eɪl
homophone: wail
homophone: whale (wine–whine merger)
Forms: form: wales
Etymology: From Middle English wale, wal, from Old Norse val (“choice”), from Proto-Germanic *walą, *walō (“desire, choice”), from Proto-Indo-European *welh₁- (“to choose, want”). Akin to Old Norse velja (“to choose”), Old High German wala "choice" (German Wahl "choice"), Old English willan (“to want”). More at will.
Senses: glosses: Something selected as being the best, preference; choice.
wale
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈweɪl/
ipa: [ˈweɪɫ]
rhymes: -eɪl
homophone: wail
homophone: whale (wine–whine merger)
Forms: form: wales
form: waling
form: waled
form: waled
form: wail
Etymology: From Middle English wale, wal, from Old Norse val (“choice”), from Proto-Germanic *walą, *walō (“desire, choice”), from Proto-Indo-European *welh₁- (“to choose, want”). Akin to Old Norse velja (“to choose”), Old High German wala "choice" (German Wahl "choice"), Old English willan (“to want”). More at will.
Senses: glosses: To choose, select.
waler
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈweɪlə/
rhymes: -eɪlə(ɹ)
Forms: form: walers
Etymology: From (New South) Wale(s) + -er, the horse having been bred in the then colony of New South Wales in the 19th century.
Senses: examples: text: Without reason, against prudence, and at a moment's notice, he fell in love with a frivolous, golden-haired girl who used to tear about Simla Mall on a high, rough waler, with a blue velvet jockey-cap crammed over her eyes.
ref: 1888, Rudyard Kipling, “Wressley of the Foreign Office”, in Plain Tales from the Hills, Folio Society, published 2004, page 204:
text: There were Arabs of high degree, thoroughbred English horses, and very good-looking Walers among them, besides some tiny ponies, four of which, when harnessed together, drew a real Cinderella coach of solid silver.
ref: 1889, Annie Brassey, The Last Voyage, to India and Australia, in the ‘Sunbeam’, published 2010, page 46:
text: 2007, "Waler", entry in Bonnie L. Hendricks, International Encyclopedia of Horse Breeds, page 434,
Some maintain that the Waler is extinct, its blood living on only in the modern Australian Stock Horse and some of the feral brumbies that roam the outback.
text: By the 1850s, there was a thriving trade in selling the horses to the Indian Army as 'remounts'. Between 1834 and 1937, more than 300,000 Walers were sent to India.
ref: 2013, Peter Macinnis, The Big Book of Australian History, page 134:
glosses: A breed of light saddle horse from Australia, once favoured as a warhorse.
waler
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈweɪlə/
rhymes: -eɪlə(ɹ)
rhymes: -eɪlə(ɹ)
ipa: /ˈweɪlə/
rhymes: -eɪlə(ɹ)
Forms: form: walers
Etymology: From wale + -er.
Senses: examples: text: 1998, Richard Lampo, Thomas Nosker, Doug Barno, John Busel, Ali Maher, Piyush Dutta, Robert Odello, Construction Productivity Advancement Research (CPAR) Program: Development and Demonstration of Composite FRP Fender, Loadbearing, and Sheet Piling Systems, US Army Corps of Engineers Construction Engineering Research Laboratories, USACERL Technical Report 98/123, page 65,
Another consideration is when walers are placed between the piles (Figure 27) and to what extent the pile could deform before the load of the berthing vessel would be shared by the adjacent walers.
text: Backing for the plywood is provided by 2” × 12” wooden planks (walers in forming technology) spaced approximately 15 inches apart in the vertical direction and running the full length of the wall section. The form ties are ¾-inch pipe clamps, spaced 6 to 10 feet apart in the horizontal direction. In the typical concrete forms, walers are 2×4's and form ties are spaced at 2-foot intervals. By using 2×12 walers, form ties can be spaced at up to 10-foot intervals.
ref: 2007, David Easton, The Rammed Earth House, page 121:
text: An optional cast-in-place concrete waler is shown at each anchor row location. The concrete walers are cast against the earth after installation of the helical anchors and prior to excavation for the next lift. Concrete walers can reduce the required thickness of shotcrete for the remaining facing. The walers also improve punching resistance at the helical tie back locations.
ref: 2009, Howard A. Perko, Helical Piles: A Practical Guide to Design and Installation, page 374:
qualifier: structural engineering
glosses: A plank of wood, block of concrete, etc., used for support or to maintain required separation between components in order to help maintain the form of a construction under stress.
wangle
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈwæŋ.ɡəl/
rhymes: -æŋɡəl
Forms: form: wangles
form: wangling
form: wangled
form: wangled
Etymology: Blend of wag + dangle, first attested 1810–1820. Alternatively, from an alteration of waggle or wankle.
Senses: examples: text: “My dear old lad,” he said, briskly, “this must be remedied! Oh, positively! This must be remedied at once! I suppose my things wouldn’t fit you? No. Well, I tell you what. We’ll wangle something from my father-in-law.
ref: 1920 March – 1921 February, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, chapter XVIII, in Indiscretions of Archie, New York, N.Y.: A[lbert] L[evi] Burt Company, […], published 1921, →OCLC:
text: After graduation, she was hired by United Press International, which on one memorable occasion sent her to cover a show by Elvis Presley in Detroit. She wangled an invitation to the singer’s hotel room, where one thing led to another.
ref: 2022 November 1, William Grimes, “Gael Greene, Who Shook Up Restaurant Reviewing, Dies at 88”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
synonyms: fainaigue
finagle
glosses: To obtain through deceitful or manipulative methods.
glosses: To falsify, as records.
examples: text: He tried to wangle an extra ticket to the concert, but it was sold out.
text: She managed to wangle an invitation to the exclusive event.
text: It took some effort to wangle a last-minute meeting with the CEO.
glosses: To achieve through contrivance or cajolery.
Derived terms: wangler
wangle
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈwæŋ.ɡəl/
rhymes: -æŋɡəl
Forms: form: wangles
Etymology: Blend of wag + dangle, first attested 1810–1820. Alternatively, from an alteration of waggle or wankle.
Senses: glosses: The act of wangling
Related terms: finagle
wrangle
wanned
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Forms: form: more wanned
form: most wanned
Etymology: From wan + -ed.
Senses: glosses: Made wan, or pale.
wapiti
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈwɑpɪti/
Forms: form: wapitis
form: wapiti
Etymology: From Shawnee waapiti (“elk; white rump”).
Senses: examples: text: Of deer there are in North America perhaps eight species : the black-tailed deer of the Pacific coast ; the mule-deer, and the white-tailed deer, of the Upper Missouri region and westward; the common deer of the United States east of the Missouri ; the wapiti of the northern and northwestern portions of the United States; one or two species of reindeer ; and the moose of the northern portion of the continent. […] Next to the moose, the wapiti or American elk (Cervus Canadensis) is the largest deer in North America.
ref: 1877 April, Sanborn Tenney, “The Plant-Eaters of North America”, in Popular Science Monthly, volume 10:
text: In connection with the work of the forest reserves I desire again to urge upon the Congress the importance of authorizing the President to set aside certain portions of these reserves or other public lands as game refuges for the preservation of the bison, the wapiti, and other large beasts once so abundant in our woods and mountains and on our great plains, and now tending toward extinction.
ref: 1904 December 6, Theodore Roosevelt, Fourth State of the Union Address:
text: You see, if we could keep giraffes or reindeer or some other species of browsing animal there we could explain the general absence of vegetation by a reference to the fauna of the garden: ‘You can’t have wapiti and Darwin tulips, you know, so we didn’t put down any bulbs last year.’ As it is, we haven’t got the wapiti, and the Darwin tulips haven’t survived the fact that most of the cats of the neighbourhood hold a parliament in the centre of the tulip bed; […].
ref: 1919, Saki, “The Occasional Garden”, in The Toys of Peace, and Other Papers:
glosses: The American elk (Cervus canadensis). It was formerly considered to be in the same species as the European red deer, which it somewhat exceeds in size.
Synonyms: word: elk
word: wawaskeesh
Related terms: elk
moose
warper
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: -ɔː(ɹ)pə(ɹ)
Forms: form: warpers
Etymology: From warp + -er.
Senses: glosses: One who, or that which, warps or twists out of shape.
Derived terms: reality warper
washy
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Forms: form: washier
form: washiest
Etymology: From wash + -y.
Senses: glosses: Watery; damp; soft.
examples: text: washy tea
text: washy resolutions
glosses: Lacking substance or strength; weak; thin; dilute; feeble.
examples: text: a washy horse
topics: hobbies
horse-racing
horseracing
horses
lifestyle
pets
racing
sports
synonyms: washed out
glosses: Not firm or hardy; liable to sweat profusely with labour.
Derived terms: wishy-washy
washy
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Forms: form: washies
Etymology: From wash + -y.
Senses: examples: text: Swishy, swishy, swashy. Give your hands a washy.
glosses: A wash, an act of washing.
weal
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: enpr: wēl
ipa: /wiːl/
ipa: /wil/
homophone: we'll
homophone: wheal
homophone: wheel (wine–whine merger)
rhymes: -iːl
Etymology: From Middle English wele, from Old English wela (“wellness, welfare, prosperity, riches, well-being, wealth”), from Proto-West Germanic *welō, from Proto-Germanic *walô (“well-being, wellness, weal”). Cognate with German Wohl, Danish vel, Swedish väl.
Senses: glosses: Wealth, riches.
examples: text: Therefore for Gods loue, and as we loue the weale of our Soules and Bodies, let us ſo behaue our ſelues, as we may be at peace with God, and may finde grace in the Eyes of this People.
ref: 1627 (indicated as 1626), Francis [Bacon], “New Atlantis. A Worke Vnfinished.”, in Sylua Syluarum: Or A Naturall Historie. In Ten Centuries. […], London: […] William Rawley […]; [p]rinted by J[ohn] H[aviland] for William Lee […], →OCLC, page 7:
text: For whom all this was made, all this will ſoon / Follow, as to him linkt in weal or woe, [...]
ref: 1667, John Milton, “Book VIII”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC, lines 132–133:
text: It seemed so plain that if the workman had his master’s profit at heart, and the master were as anxious for the weal of his men, the interests of the two would be one.
ref: 1919, Stanley J. Weyman, “XIII. Peter Pauper”, in The Great House:
glosses: Welfare, prosperity.
examples: text: And indeed I blamed myself and sore repented me of having taken compassion on him and continued in this condition, suffering fatigue not to be described, till I said to myself, "I wrought him a weal and he requited me with my ill; by Allah, never more will I do any man a service so long as I live!"
ref: 1885, Richard F. Burton, The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, Night 557:
glosses: Boon, benefit.
examples: text: Yet never was there a time when it more concerned the public weal, that the character of the parliament should stand high.
ref: 1849, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter IV, in The History of England from the Accession of James II, volume I, London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC, page 515:
text: The austerity of my tone seemed to touch a nerve and kindle the fire that always slept in this vermilion-headed menace to the common weal [...]
ref: 1960, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, chapter IV, in Jeeves in the Offing, London: Herbert Jenkins, →OCLC:
text: Louis could aim to restyle himself the first among citizens, viewing virtuous attachment to the public weal as his most important kingly duty.
ref: 2002, Colin Jones, The Great Nation, Penguin, published 2003, page 372:
glosses: Specifically, the general happiness of a community, country etc. (often with qualifying word).
Derived terms: commonweal
for weal or woe
in weal and woe
wealful
weal-public
wealsman
wealth
Related terms: in weal or woe
weal
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: enpr: wēl
ipa: /wiːl/
ipa: /wil/
homophone: we'll
homophone: wheal
homophone: wheel (wine–whine merger)
rhymes: -iːl
Forms: form: weals
Etymology: See wale.
Senses: examples: text: [A]lthough a few [slaves] live comfortably at Paramaribo, the greateſt number are wretched, particularly thoſe governed by a lady, who have many weals to ſhow, but not the ſmallest indulgence to boaſt of.
ref: 1796, J[ohn] G[abriel] Stedman, chapter XII, in Narrative of a Five Years’ Expedition against the Revolted Negroes of Surinam, in Guiana, on the Wild Coast of South America; […], volume I, London: J[oseph] Johnson, […], and J. Edwards, […], →OCLC, page 296:
text: He turned as I struck him and fired full into my face, and the bullet left a weal across my cheek which will mark me to my dying day.
ref: 1892, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “[The Great Shadow] The End of the Storm”, in The Great Shadow and Beyond the City, Bristol: J. W. Arrowsmith, […]; London: Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent & Co., →OCLC, pages 140–141:
text: He had been slashed sixteen times by mighty boars, and his legs had white weals of shiny flesh that stretched right up to his ribs.
ref: 1958, T. H. White, chapter 16, in The Once and Future King, London: Collins, published 1959:
text: And I saw the green island in the immense sea, the borders of the sea curling with a lining of light, like a vast piece of rice paper, its edges alive with weals of red embers, ready to burst into flame.
ref: 2007, Tan Twan Eng, The Gift of Rain, New York: Weinstein Books, Book Two, Chapter Twenty-One, p. 422:
synonyms: wheal
glosses: A raised, longitudinal wound, usually purple, on the surface of flesh caused by a stroke of a rod or whip; a welt.
weal
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: enpr: wēl
ipa: /wiːl/
ipa: /wil/
homophone: we'll
homophone: wheal
homophone: wheel (wine–whine merger)
rhymes: -iːl
Forms: form: weals
form: wealing
form: wealed
form: wealed
Etymology: See wale.
Senses: glosses: To mark with stripes; to wale.
weald
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /wiːld/
ipa: /wild/
rhymes: -iːld
homophone: wealed
homophone: wheeled
homophone: wield
Forms: form: wealds
Etymology: From Middle English weeld, wæld, (also wold, wald > English wold), from (West Saxon dialect) Old English weald, from Proto-West Germanic *walþu, from Proto-Germanic *walþuz.
Compare German Wald, Dutch woud. See also wold, ultimately of the same origin. Largely displaced by forest.
Senses: glosses: A forest or wood.
examples: text: [S]he to Almesbury / Fled all night long by glimmering waste and weald, / And heard the Spirits of the waste and weald / Moan as she fled, or thought she heard them moan: […]
ref: 1859, Alfred Tennyson, “Guinevere”, in Idylls of the King, London: Edward Moxon & Co., […], →OCLC, page 231:
glosses: An open country.
Derived terms: Harrow Weald
North Weald
North Weald Bassett
South Weald
Wealden
wealdish
Related terms: wold
wald
wean
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: enpr: wēn
ipa: /wiːn/
rhymes: -iːn
homophone: ween
Forms: form: weans
form: weaning
form: weaned
form: weaned
Etymology: From Middle English wenen, from Old English wenian (“to accustom; habituate; train; prepare; make fit”), from Proto-West Germanic *wannjan, from Proto-Germanic *wanjaną (“to make wont; accustom”), from Proto-Indo-European *wenh₁- (“to strive for; wish; love”).
Cognate with Dutch wennen, German gewöhnen, Danish vænne, Swedish vänja, Icelandic venja. Related via PIE to wone, wont, and wonder, and perhaps win.
Senses: examples: text: The cow has weaned her calf.
text: Abraham made a great feast the same day that Isaac was weaned.
ref: 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Genesis 21:8:
glosses: To cease giving breast milk to an offspring; to accustom and reconcile (a child or young animal) to a want or deprivation of mother's milk; to take from the breast or udder.
examples: text: His generation was weaned on 1980's music.
glosses: To cease giving breast milk to an offspring; to accustom and reconcile (a child or young animal) to a want or deprivation of mother's milk; to take from the breast or udder.
To habituate (someone) to something, especially since childhood.
qualifier: chiefly passive voice
raw_tags: followed by on
examples: text: The kittens are finally weaning.
glosses: To cease to depend on the mother's milk for nutrition.
examples: text: He managed to wean himself off heroin.
text: With Marvin getting older ... and walking now ... I thought it was time to start weaning him off of his bottle.
ref: 2004 May 3, Tom Armstrong, Marvin (comic):
text: The troubles of age were intended […] to wean us gradually from our fondness of life.
ref: 1727, Jonathan Swift, (Please provide the book title or journal name):
text: Dalai Lama: "Then, I suggested, “Drink much less vodka.” Instead of that, they traditionally also drink horse milk—"
Oliver: "Wait, hold on, you tried to wean them off vodka by giving them horse milk?"
Dalai Lama: "Oh yes, and they follow."
ref: March 6, 2017, John Oliver, “Interview with the Dalai Lama”, in Last Week Tonight:
glosses: To cause to quit something to which one is addicted, dependent, or habituated.
raw_tags: normally "wean off"
examples: text: She is weaning from her addiction to tobacco.
glosses: To cease to depend.
examples: text: For they are friends that help to weane my ſtate,
Till men and kingdomes help to ſtrengthen it: […]
ref: c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire; London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act I, scene ii:
glosses: To raise, to help grow toward maturity
wean
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: enpr: wēn
ipa: /wiːn/
rhymes: -iːn
homophone: ween
ipa: /ˈwiː(ə)n/
ipa: /ˈweɪ(ə)n/
ipa: [weːn]
enpr: wēn
ipa: /wiːn/
rhymes: -iːn
homophone: ween
Forms: form: weans
Etymology: Borrowed from Scots wean (literally “wee one”).
Senses: examples: text: I, being but a yearling wean.
ref: 1856, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, “Third Book”, in Aurora Leigh, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1857, →OCLC:
text: And there were darker tales in the countryside, of weans stolen, of lassies misguided, of innocent beasts cruelly tortured, and in one and all there came in the name of the wife of the Skerburnfoot.
ref: 1902, John Buchan, The Outgoing of the Tide:
text: ‘While I was his ward, he treated me no worse
as a wean about the place than one of his own boys.’
ref: 1999, Seamus Heaney, Beowulf, London: Faber and Faber, page 77:
text: Pigs, cows and sheep and wee ducks, that was what he bought and it was just for weans and wee lasses. I said it to my maw.
Oh it is not weans it is children. Oh Kieron, it is children and girls, do not say weans and lasses.
ref: 2008, James Kelman, Kieron Smith, Boy, Penguin 2009, page 92:
qualifier: others
glosses: A young child.
wester
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: -ɛstə(ɹ)
Forms: form: westers
Etymology: From west + -er.
Senses: glosses: A strong westerly wind, a wind blowing from the west.
wester
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: -ɛstə(ɹ)
Forms: form: westers
form: westering
form: westered
form: westered
Etymology: From west + -er.
Senses: examples: text: My sun is westering, and the lengthening shadows remind me to work while it is day.
ref: 1910, James George Frazer, Totemism and Exogamy, volume 1, page ix:
text: The hills rose scarlet and gold to the north of the little town, and the westering sun shone ruddily and mystically on the crude new stone and plaster buildings of the dusty forum and the wooden walls of the circus some distance to the east.
ref: 1927, H. P. Lovecraft, The Very Old Folk:
text: The rainy Pleiads wester,
Orion plunges prone,
ref: 1936, Alfred Edward Housman, More Poems, XI, line 1-2:
glosses: To move towards the west
Derived terms: westering
wester
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: -ɛstə(ɹ)
Etymology: From west + -er.
Senses: examples: text: This is properly two, if not three towns — there being an Easter Anstruther and a Wester Anstruther, both burghs, besides a large fishing village […]
ref: 1828, The Picture of Scotland, page 187:
text: There had been a Little and a Meikle, and an Easter and a Wester Coull two centuries ago; and there had been a castle on the property […]
ref: 1885, Alex Johnston Warden, Angus Or Forfarshire: The Land and People, Descriptive and Historical, page 204:
text: It is styled, as we have seen, Wester Rires, which implies an Easter Rires; and this last portion of it probably lay to the north-east, and included […]
ref: 1887, Walter Wood, The East Neuk of Fife: Its History and Antiquities, page 118:
text: 'The fact remains that there is an Easter Fintry and a Wester Fintry in this part of the world. Just as there is an Easter Golford and a Wester Golford, ...
ref: 2011, J.I.M. Stewart, Mungo's Dream, House of Stratus, →ISBN, page 219:
glosses: Western, westerly.
examples: text: President-elect Nixon [...] pointed out that Alaska is even wester than Hawaii. [...] had Mr. Nixon searched just a few leagues wester our Secretary of the Interior might have turned out to be a citizen of Kichighinsk. Nor is there anything in the history of the United States that validates the presupposition that anyone who is wester than anybody is simultaneously and necessatily more interior than anybody.
ref: 1969 January 6, Bertram L. Podell, Congressional Record, United States, page 276:
glosses: comparative form of west: more west
Derived terms: Wester Ross
Related terms: easter
whelk
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /wɛlk/
note: without the wine–whine merger
ipa: /hwɛlk
note: without the wine–whine merger
ipa: ʍɛlk/
rhymes: -ɛlk
Forms: form: whelks
form: welk
form: whilk
form: wilk
Etymology: From Middle English whelke, a variant of welk, from Old English weoloc, wiloc, wioloc, weluc, from Proto-West Germanic *weluk (compare Middle Dutch willoc, Dutch wulk), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *welH- (“to turn, revolve”) (whence vulva and volute). Unetymological spelling with wh- from the 15th century.
Senses: glosses: Certain edible sea snails, especially, any one of numerous species of large marine gastropods belonging to Buccinidae, much used as food in Europe.
Synonyms: scungilli
Derived terms: Asian rapa whelk
dog whelk
knobbed whelk
veined rapa whelk
whelker
whelk stall
whelky
whelk
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /wɛlk/
note: without the wine–whine merger
ipa: /hwɛlk
note: without the wine–whine merger
ipa: ʍɛlk/
rhymes: -ɛlk
Forms: form: whelks
form: welk
form: whilk
form: wilk
Etymology: From Middle English whelke, from Old English hwelca (“pustule, swelling”).
Senses: examples: text: his face is all bubukles , and whelks , and knobs
ref: 1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life of Henry the Fift”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene v]:
glosses: Pimple.
glosses: A stripe or mark; a ridge; a wale.
Derived terms: chin whelk
whelky
whelm
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: enpr: whĕlm
enpr: wĕlm
ipa: /ʍɛlm/
ipa: /wɛlm/
rhymes: -ɛlm
Forms: form: whelms
Etymology: From Middle English whelmen (“to turn over, capsize; to invert, turn upside down”), perhaps from Old English *hwealmnian, a variant of *hwealfnian, from hwealf (“arched, concave, vaulted; an arched or vaulted ceiling”), from Proto-West Germanic *hwalb, from Proto-Germanic *hwalbą (“arch, vault”), from Proto-Indo-European *kʷelp- (“to curve”). The English word is cognate with Dutch welven (“to arch”), Old Saxon bihwelvian (“to cover, hide”), German wölben (“to bend, curve, arch”), Icelandic hvelfa (“to overturn”), German Walm (“a vaulted roof”), Icelandic hvolf (“vaulted ceiling”), Ancient Greek κόλπος (kólpos, “bosom, hollow, gulf”).
The noun is derived from the verb.
Senses: examples: text: the whelm of the tide
text: I wonder about things and the people between us. The currents, the feedback, and the whelms. The sharp cracks between trees, and the tolling between the knees.
ref: 2004, Clark Coolidge, chapter XIII, in Mine: The One that Enters the Stories, Great Barrington, Mass.: The Figures, →ISBN, page 75:
text: [...] I stood waiting, glad of a first tremor / Then caught up in the now-or-never whelm / Of one and all the full length of the train.
ref: 2006, Seamus Heaney, District and Circle, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, →ISBN, page 19:
text: As our country developed, the clash of new immigrating cultures were all positioning themselves throughout the United States and their political leaders were individually striving for their own egotistical whelm of power [...]
ref: 2012, Richard Secklin, “Introduction”, in Marijuana for Parkinson’s Disease: Cannabis Research & the Miracle Plant for Parkinson’s, [United States]: Nettfit Publishing, →ISBN:
glosses: A surge of water.
examples: text: A whelm was a wooden drainpipe, a hollowed-out tree trunk, "whelmed down" or turned with the concavity downwards to form an arched watercourse.
ref: 2023, Christopher Hadley, The Road, William Collins Books, →ISBN:
glosses: A wooden drainpipe, a hollowed out tree trunk, turned with the cavity downwards to form an arched watercourse.
whet
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈwɛt/
ipa: [ˈwɛ(ʔ)t̚]
note: without the wine–whine merger
ipa: /ˈʍɛt/
note: without the wine–whine merger
ipa: [ˈʍɛ(ʔ)t̚]
rhymes: -ɛt
homophone: wet (wine–whine merger)
Forms: form: whets
form: whetting
form: whetted
form: whetted
form: whet
form: whet
Etymology: From Middle English whetten, from Old English hwettan (“to whet, sharpen, incite, encourage”), from Proto-West Germanic *hwattjan, from Proto-Germanic *hwatjaną (“to incite, sharpen”), from Proto-Indo-European *kʷeh₁d- (“sharp”).
Cognate with Dutch wetten (“to whet, sharpen”), German wetzen (“to whet, sharpen”), Icelandic hvetja (“to whet, encourage, catalyze”), dialectal Danish hvæde (“to whet”).
Senses: examples: text: Why dost thou whet thy knife so earnestly?
ref: c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i]:
text: And the Mower whets his ſithe,
ref: a. 1645, John Milton, “L’Allegro”, in Poems of Mr. John Milton, […], London: […] Ruth Raworth for Humphrey Mosely, […], published 1646, →OCLC, page 33:
text: Here roams the wolf, the eagle whets his beak.
ref: 1812, Lord Byron, “Canto II”, in Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage. A Romaunt, London: […] [F]or John Murray, […]; William Blackwood, Edinburgh; and John Cumming, Dublin; by Thomas Davison, […], →OCLC, stanza XLII:
synonyms: steel
strop
glosses: To hone or rub on with some substance, as a piece of stone, for the purpose of sharpening – see whetstone.
examples: text: to whet one's appetite or one's courage
text: Since Cassius first did whet me against Caesar, / I have not slept.
ref: 1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i]:
text: My faith in vegetarianism grew on me from day to day. Salt's book whetted my appetite for dietetic studies. I went in for all books available on vegetarianism and read them.
ref: 1925-29, Mahadev Desai (translator), M.K. Gandhi, The Story of My Experiments with Truth, Part I, chapter xv
text: In the end, porn doesn’t whet men’s appetites—it turns them off the real thing.
ref: 2003 October 9, Naomi Wolf, “The Porn Myth”, in New York Magazine:
synonyms: word: rouse
word: animate
word: awaken
word: electrify
word: enflame
word: enkindle
word: enthrill
word: exagitate
word: excite
word: exhilarate
word: exsuscitate
word: fillip
word: fire
word: fire the blood
word: galvanize
word: gin up
word: ignite
word: inflame
word: intoxicate
word: kindle
word: quicken
word: rouse
word: send
word: set fire to
word: set on fire
word: sharpen
word: stir the blood
word: suscitate
word: thrill
word: vitalise
word: wake
word: warm the blood
word: whet
word: wind up
word: work up
word: yerk
glosses: To stimulate or make more keen.
synonyms: primp
smarten up
glosses: To preen.
Derived terms: word: whet someone's appetite
word: whetter
word: whetstone
whet
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈwɛt/
ipa: [ˈwɛ(ʔ)t̚]
note: without the wine–whine merger
ipa: /ˈʍɛt/
note: without the wine–whine merger
ipa: [ˈʍɛ(ʔ)t̚]
rhymes: -ɛt
homophone: wet (wine–whine merger)
Forms: form: whets
Etymology: From Middle English whetten, from Old English hwettan (“to whet, sharpen, incite, encourage”), from Proto-West Germanic *hwattjan, from Proto-Germanic *hwatjaną (“to incite, sharpen”), from Proto-Indo-European *kʷeh₁d- (“sharp”).
Cognate with Dutch wetten (“to whet, sharpen”), German wetzen (“to whet, sharpen”), Icelandic hvetja (“to whet, encourage, catalyze”), dialectal Danish hvæde (“to whet”).
Senses: glosses: The act of whetting something.
examples: text: sips, drams, and whets
ref: 1714 July 30 (Gregorian calendar), [Joseph Addison], “MONDAY, July 19, 1714”, in The Spectator, number 569; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a New Edition, […], volume VI, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton & Company, 1853, →OCLC:
text: To make a nice Whet before Dinner […]
ref: 1769, Elizabeth Raffald, The Experienced English Housekeeper:
text: A really good game, to my mind, must have an element, however slight, of physical danger to the player. This is the great whet to skilled performance.
ref: 1902, Robert Marshall Grade, The Haunted Major:
glosses: That which whets or sharpens; especially, an appetizer.
Derived terms: saw-whet owl
whet slate