a-whetadv.
Etymology: a prep.1 + whet n. (On imperfect analogy.)Previous versions of the OED give the stress as: a-ˈwhet.
1866 J. Conington tr. Virgil viii. 283 Snakes, with fangs a-whet.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1885; most recently modified version published online June 2019).