Do we say wet or whet

wet 4715 occurrences

He comes on her a long way off, lying on the ground, hidden by some bushes; the stream flows by at her feet, she is barefoot and bareheaded, and wet all up the back as well.

The cloth had been wet, but was drying now; the whole thing looked like a half-wrung bundle of washing.

I said it was, very, and wet in the dryest weather.

"Alas!" said the youth,and his eyes were wet, "Is old age merely a vain regret, The retrospect of wasted years, Of false ideals and lost careers?

" She took the wet cloth and made a deft bandage for the head of Conklin.

"The weather at the time was inclement, either (a) wet and dirty or (b) extremely cold.

where the wandering moor-fowl nest; And up where the wet grey glidders[10] shine

My first acquaintance with it was made on a day of grey mist and drizzling rain, which completely hid any view of the surrounding country, and of necessity confined our attention to the stones (and wet grass!)

From top to toe all wet was she, (Follow, my love, come over the strand)

My sun is set, my eyne are wet, cauld poortith now is mine; Nae mair I'll range by Coquet-side and thraw the gleesome line;

Rice will only grow in wet ground.

Wet cloths are next placed over the leaves, and they are put in a cool dark place, until they rot a little.

It's the big porch without any floor to it, where carriages drive up so you can get in and out without getting wet if it rains.

The starch remaining in a few places in his suit, now partly dried in the hot sun, caused the linen to stand out grotesquely in peaks and mud-streaked humps, his hair, still wet, hung in wisps about his very dirty face, his bare, red feet and legs protruded from shapeless knickerbockers.

Moved either by extreme thirst or by the fear that his time might be too short to permit him to draw a bucket of water, he threw himself down by the trough, drank long and deep, and plunging his head into the water, shook himself like a wet dog, and crept furtively back to his dangerous perch.

This being well known to Second Lieutenant Courtenay, he, after collecting himself, his cycle, and his scattered wits from the ditch and conscientiously cursing the road, the dark, and the wet, duly turned to bless the luck that had brought about an accident right at the doorstep of a section of the Motor Transport.

"Guess you'd better pull that wet coat right off," he said casually, "and set down while I get busy.

Courtenay pulled off his wet coat and settled himself comfortably on a box after offering his assistance and being assured it was not required.

Two heavy-hoofed horses straining against wet leather collars crowded her toward the curb and shortly the traffic became blocked.

You'll be a hospital case if you stick about in those wet togs much longer.

The directions require it to be wet with spirits nine mornings in succession, to be carried on the person, in a pocket on the right hand side, care being taken that it does not come in contact with any tobacco.

"Rumble's Moor on a wet Friday's busy to it," he said emphatically.

"I will wait for you," she whispered, and her face was wet with tears of happiness.

Ralph was sorry, of course, that the captain had to come after him, and get himself wet, but he explained that he wanted to do something for the good of the party, and it had struck him that it would be a very sensible thing to investigate the opening on the other side of the lake.

"And now that you are dressed, you can go inside and get me that woollen shirt and trousers that I use for a pillow, for I must take off these wet things.

whet 98 occurrences

What Tricks the young Baggages have to whet a man's Appetite? Bel.

The Gods their Mercies will dispense, In a more glorious Recompence; A World of Blessings they've in store, A World of Honours, Vict'ries more; Thou shalt the Kingdom's Darling be, And Kings shall Homage pay to thee; Thy Sword no bounds to Conquest set, And thy Success that Sword shall whet; Princes thy Chariot-wheel shall grace, Whilst thou in Triumph bring'st home Peace.

"If a man will not turn, He will whet His sword; He hath bent His bow, and made it ready," against those who travail with mischief, who conceive sorrow, and bring forth ungodliness.

so blithe, and you, and I The Mower he would whet his scythe Before the dew was dry.

And if jocular discourse may serve to good purposes of this kind; if it may be apt to raise our drooping spirits, to allay our irksome cares, to whet our blunted industry, to recreate our minds being tired and cloyed with graver occupations; if it may breed alacrity, or maintain good humour among us; if it may conduce to sweeten conversation and endear society; then is it not inconvenient, or unprofitable.

but if a man WILL not turn he will whet his sword.

This scrambling raven, with his needy beard, Will I whet on to write a comedy, Wherein shall be compos'd dark sentences, Pleasing to factious brains: And every other where place me a jest.

To shew you, Madam, The picture of your selfe, but so defac'd And mangled by proud Spanyards it woo'd whet A sword to arme the poorest Florentine In your just wrongs.

Baltazar, To give thy Sword an edge againe, this Frenchman Shall whet thee on, that if thy pistoll faile, Or ponyard, this can send the poyson home.

If I wist there were any such knavery, or Peter Bales's brachygraphy, under Sol's bushy hair, I would have a barber, my host of the Murrion's Head, to be his interpreter, who would whet his razor on his Richmond cap, and give him the terrible cut like himself, but he would come as near as a quart pot to the construction of it.

For fear we whet your scythe upon your pate.

But at a complement; a glittering vapour, A thing of clothes and fitt for chambermaides To whet their witts upon, but now resolve Either to have your skin flead of or fight wo' me For troubling my present meditations.

incentive, stimulus, spur, fillip, whip, goad, ankus^, rowel, provocative, whet, dram. bribe, lure; decoy, decoy duck; bait, trail of a red herring; bribery and corruption; sop, sop for Cerberus. prompter, tempter; seducer, seductor^; instigator, firebrand, incendiary; Siren, Circe; agent provocateur; lobbyist.

[Note 2: Who whet the knife of the vivisectionist or heat his oven.

A sudden interruption, on the very brink of a crisis, may, as it were, whet the appetite of the audience for what is to come.

The scene might equally well have been laid in the Isle of Wight, but Bengal on the title-page doubtless served to whet the curiosity of readers.

"To announce that much-wished-for event, I have not had news of thee, except in a way so vague, as to whet the desire to know more rather than to appease the longings of love.

The homeliest vegetables, too, if sound, ripe, and wholesome, are infinitely to be preferred to the rare expensive sorts forced out of season or gathered barely ripe and conveyed long distances to whet jaded palates.

Whet good ever came, what good can we expect, from deeds of darkness? Did the influence of the masters contribute any thing in the West Indies; to prepare the apprentices for enfranchisement?

No measure can be more desirable, whet her viewed with an eye to its intrinsic importance or to the general sentiment and wish of the nation.

They obeyed, as Abraham did when he began to whet his knife for his son Isaac.

It was indefinite in the date, uncertain as to persons, mysterious as to the event,just such a tradition as to whet the edge of one's curiosity and to leave it hopeless of gratification.

"God is angry with the wicked every day; if he turn not he will whet his sword; he hath bent his bow, and made it ready.

By this means a Member of the Everlasting Club never wants Company; for tho' he is not upon Duty himself, he is sure to find some [who ] are; so that if he be disposed to take a Whet, a Nooning, an Evening's Draught, or a Bottle after Midnight, he goes to the Club and finds a Knot of Friends to his Mind.

Hard skating is nearly as effective to whet hunger as this gentleman's expedient.

Do we say   wet   or  whet