wet one's whistle, to

wet one's whistle

Rur. to take a drink. He stopped at the bar to wet his whistle. I don't need a big glass of water. Just enough to wet my whistle.See also: wet, whistle

wet one's whistle

Have a drink, as in I'm just going to wet my whistle before I go out on the tennis court. This expression uses whistle in the sense of "mouth" and may allude to the fact that it is very hard to whistle with dry lips. [Late 1300s] See also: wet, whistle

wet (one's) whistle

Informal To take a drink.See also: wet, whistle

wet one's whistle, to

To have a drink. It is very difficult to whistle with dry lips. An old children’s party game involves eating some dry crackers or bread and attempting to whistle; the first to succeed in doing so wins a prize. The term has been around since the fourteenth century. It appeared in Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales: “So was her joly whistle wel y-wet” (The Reeve’s Tale).See also: wet