Whet vs Whit - What's the difference?

whet | whit |

As nouns the difference between whet and whit

is that whet is the act of whetting something while whit is the smallest part or particle imaginable; an iota.

is to hone or rub on with some substance, as a piece of stone, for the purpose of sharpening – see whetstone.

(whett)

To hone or rub on with some substance, as a piece of stone, for the purpose of sharpening – see whetstone.

* Milton

The mower whets his scythe.

* Byron

Here roams the wolf, the eagle whets his beak.

To stimulate or make more keen.

to whet one's appetite or one's courage

* Shakespeare

Since Cassius first did whet me against Caesar, / I have not slept.

* 2003-10-20 , Naomi Wolf, The Porn Myth] , [http://nymag.com/ New York Magazine

In the end, porn doesn’t whet men’s appetites—it turns them off the real thing.

* whetstone

(en noun)

The act of whetting something.

That which whets or sharpens; especially, an appetizer.

* Spectator

* sips, drams, and whets

(en noun)

The smallest part or particle imaginable; an iota.

He worked tirelessly to collect and wind a ball of string eight feet around, and it matters not one whit .

* 1602 : (William Shakespeare), , act V scene 2

Not a whit .

* 1917 , Incident by

* (smallest part imaginable) bit, iota, jot, scrap * See also .