whet

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
whet /wɛt/

▶verb (whets, whetting, whetted)

• 1 sharpen the blade of (a tool or weapon).

• 2 excite or stimulate (someone's desire, interest, or appetite).

▶noun archaic a thing that stimulates appetite or desire.

– derivatives
whetter noun.

– origin OE hwettan, of Gmc origin, based on an adjective meaning ‘sharp’.