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whetstone

whetstone

2 7.6
A flat stone used to sharpen the edges of knives or tools
  • noun
  • /ˈwɛtˌstoʊn/
translation icon : piedra de afilar
  • Moses impassively sharpened a pocketknife with a whetstone and pretended not to listen.
  • knife and whetstone
  • whetstone for sharpening
  • whetstone to hone

They're sharpening, you know, they're against the whetstone of America, you know, and, and the systems that we have.

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Examples

  • After checking the blade by pressing his thumb to it, he sharpened it with a whetstone until it was ready.

    Fiction book (1996)
  • The Furi sharpener is great, although we do run the older knife over a whetstone every now and again.

    Blog text (34)
  • Out behind the goat pen was the big rock Bathsheba had set up for a whetstone.

    Fiction book (1994)
  • We found a knife, a survival knife with a whetstone in the sheath and a compass in the handle.

    Fiction book (1990)
  • Ahl ran her whetstone along the knife's blade.

    Fiction book (1999)
  • He struck the dull side of the blade against the whetstone, and sparks shot out.

    Fiction book (1997)
  • On the coffee table were those few belongings I had chosen to keep with me: my alarm clock, my knife and whetstone, my penlight, and my westerns.

    Fiction book (1996)
  • He used the whetstone to sharpen his kitchen knives before the big dinner party.

  • To keep his tools in top condition, he sharpened them regularly on a whetstone.

  • The craftsmen demonstrated how to properly use a whetstone for honing the blades.

Synonyms

grindstone
vswhetstone
9 6.9

A thick round stone that turns to sharpen knives and other tools

is a flat stationary stone used for manual edge sharpening rather than rotating grinding
hone
vswhetstone
2 6.7

A stone used to make blades or tools sharp

is a flat stone focused specifically on edge sharpening rather than smoothing
oilstone
vswhetstone
8.9

A stone used with oil to sharpen the edge of knives and tools

is a flat stone not tied to oil use for manual edge sharpening

How Effective

grinding wheel
  • Specialized
1 3.9
whetstone
2 7.6
strop
2 9.8
sharpener
10 1.1

Surface Forms

whetstone singular
whetstones plural

Morphology

whetstone = whet + stone (transparent) = whet + stone

Clear compound of 'whet' (to sharpen) + 'stone' (a piece of rock), meaning a stone used for sharpening.

Etymology

Whetstone comes from whet ('to sharpen') and stone, so it is a stone used to make knives and tools sharp. You also see whet in the phrase 'whet your appetite', where it means 'sharpen' your interest, which makes the tool's purpose easy to remember.