whetstone

From Middle English whestone, whetston, whetesston, from Old English hwetstān, from Proto-Germanic *hwatjastainaz (“whetstone”), equivalent to whet (“to sharpen”) +‎ stone. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Wätsteen (“whetstone”), West Frisian wetstien (“whetstone”), German Low German Wettsteen (“whetstone”), Dutch wetsteen (“whetstone”), German Wetzstein (“whetstone”), Danish hvættesten, hvætsten (“whetstone”).

• (UK) IPA^(key): /wɛtstəʊn/

whetstone (plural whetstones)

1. A sharpening stone; a hard stone or piece of synthetically bonded hard minerals that has been formed with at least one flat surface, used to sharpen or hone an edged tool.
   • 1922, Virginia Woolf, Jacob's Room, Vintage Classics, paperback edition, page 88-89

     It was as if a stone were ground to dust; as if white sparks flew from a livid whetstone, which was his spine; as if the switchback railway, having swooped to the depths, fell, fell, fell.

2. (computing) A benchmark for evaluating the power and performance of a computer.
3. (figuratively) A stimulant.

• stone
• whet

• grind, grindstone
• hone