whet someone's appetite

present singular third person whets someone's appetite · participle present whetting someone's appetite · participle past whetted someone's appetite · past whetted someone's appetite

1. to increase or stimulate someone's desire, interest, or eagerness for something, often by providing a small preview or taste

   1 more example

   [H]e had been able to demand a monthly rent worth fifty times the eight pounds he had previously received from El Shanqeety. This revelation had whet his appetite and he had informed the residents through Amm Sadeq his willingness to pay the same amount to anyone who was thinking of leaving their flat.

   2001, Sonallah Ibrahim, translated by Anthony Calderbank, chapter 17, in Zaat, Cairo; New York, N.Y.: The American University in Cairo Press, published 2005, →ISBN, page 332