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ance, as a piece of stone, for the purpose of sharpening; to sharpen by attrition; as, to whet a knife. The mower whets his scythe. Milton. Here roams the wolf, the eagle whets his beak. Byron.

which one (of two); -- used interrogatively and relatively. [Archaic] Now choose yourself whether that you liketh. Chaucer. One day in doubt I cast for to compare Whether in beauties' glory did exceed. Spenser. Whether of them twain did the will of his father Matt. xxi. 31.

The retention of the afterbirth in cows. Gardner.

The green woodpecker, or yaffle. See Yaffle. [Prov. Eng.]

A piece of stone, natural or artificial, used for whetting, or sharpening, edge tools. The dullness of the fools is the whetstone of the wits. Shak. Diligence is to the understanding as the whetstone to the razor. South.

One who, or that which, whets, sharpens, or stimulates.

The vertebræ of the back. [Prov. Eng.] Dunglison.

A small North American owl (Nyctale Acadica), destitute of ear tufts and having feathered toes; -- called also Acadian owl.

Wilson's thrush; -- so called from its note. [Local, U.S.]

The quality or state of being able; power to perform, whether physical, moral, intellectual, conventional, or legal; capacity; skill or competence in doing; sufficiency of strength, skill, resources, etc.; -- in the plural, faculty, talent. Then the disciples, every man according to his ability, determined to send reli…

An animal or a plant native to the region. It may well be doubted whether this frog is an aboriginal of these islands. Darwin.

ied to the repeal of laws, decrees, ordinances, the abolition of customs, etc. Let us see whether the New Testament abrogates what we so frequently see in the Old. South. Whose laws, like those of the Medes and Persian, they can not alter or abrogate. Burke.

To hinder; to withhold. Whether he abstain men from marrying. Milton.

e Geology. -- Acadian owl (Zoöl.), a small North American owl (Nyctule Acadica); the saw-whet.

To lie or sail along the coast or side of; to accost. [Obs.] Whether high towering or accosting low. Spenser.

An associate in the commission of a crime; a participator in an offense, whether a principal or an accessory. "And thou, the cursed accomplice of his treason." Johnson.

corals. Sometimes, in a wider sense, applied to all the Anthozoa, expert the Alcyonaria, whether forming corals or not.

An engagement between troops in war, whether on land or water; a battle; a fight; as, a general action, a partial action.

Tendency or impulse to act. [R.] Acturience, or desire of action, in one form or another, whether as restlessness, ennui, dissatisfaction, or the imagination of something desirable. J. Grote.

To direct speech to; to make a communication to, whether spoken or written; to apply to by words, as by a speech, petition, etc., to speak to; to accost. Are not your orders to address the senate Addison. The representatives of the nation addressed the king. Swift.