different between whetstone vs swarf

English

Etymology

From Middle English whestone, whetston, whetesston, from Old English hwetst?n, from Proto-West Germanic *hwattjastain (“whetstone”). Equivalent to whet (“to sharpen”) +? stone.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /w?tst??n/

Noun

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.

Related terms

• stone
• whet

Translations

Verb

whetstone (third-person singular simple present whetstones, present participle whetstoning, simple past and past participle whetstoned)

1. (transitive) To sharpen with a whetstone.

See also

• grind, grindstone
• hone

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /sw??f/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /sw??f/
• Rhymes: -??(?)f, -??f

Etymology 1

From Middle English *swarf, *swerf, from Old English ?eswearf, ?esweorf (“iron filings; rust”) and/or Old Norse svarf (“metallic dust”), both from Proto-Germanic *swarb? (“that which is rubbed off; shavings”), from Proto-Germanic *swerban? (“to mop, wipe; to rub off”); see further at swerve. The word is cognate to Old English sweorfan (“to rub, scour; to file”).

Noun

swarf (countable and uncountable, plural swarfs)

1. (uncountable) The waste chips or shavings from an abrasive activity, such as metalworking, a saw cutting wood, or the use of a grindstone or whetstone. [from mid 16th c.]
2. (countable) A particular waste chip or shaving.

Synonyms

• (chips or shavings): turnings

Related terms

• swerve

Translations

Verb

swarf (third-person singular simple present swarfs, present participle swarfing, simple past and past participle swarfed)

1. (transitive) To grind down.

Etymology 2

From Middle English swarven, swerven (“to go; to deviate, turn aside; to stagger, be unsteady; to swerve”), from Old English sweorfan (“to wipe; to polish; to rub, scour; to file”), from Proto-Germanic *swerban? (“to mop, wipe; to rub off”). The word is cognate to Middle Dutch swerven (“to rove; to stray”) (whence Dutch zwerven (“to roam”)), Low German swarven (“to rove; to stray; to riot”), Old Norse svarfa (“to sweep; to be agitated, upset”), Norwegian svarva (“to agitate”), sverva (“to whirl”). See swerve.

Verb

swarf (third-person singular simple present swarfs, present participle swarfing, simple past and past participle swarfed)

1. (intransitive, Scotland, obsolete) To grow languid; to faint.

Noun

swarf (plural swarfs)

1. (obsolete) A faint or swoon.

References

Further reading

• swarf on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• FWSAR, Warfs