whittle
noun
whit·tle
| \ ˈhwi-tᵊl
, ˈwi-\
, ˈwi-\
Definition of whittle
(Entry 1 of 2)
archaic
: a large knife
whittle
verb
whittled;
whittling\ ˈhwit-liŋ
, ˈwit- ; ˈhwi-tᵊl-iŋ , ˈwi- \
, ˈwit- ; ˈhwi-tᵊl-iŋ , ˈwi- \
Definition of whittle (Entry 2 of 2)
1a
: to pare or cut off chips from the surface of (wood) with a knife
b
: to shape or form by so paring or cutting
2
: to reduce, remove, or destroy gradually as if by cutting off bits with a knife : pare
whittle down expenses
1
: to cut or shape something (such as wood) by or as if by paring it with a knife
2
: to wear oneself or another out with fretting
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Other Words from whittle
Verb
whittler
\ ˈhwit-lər
, ˈwit- ; ˈhwi-tᵊl-ər , ˈwi- \
noun
, ˈwit- ; ˈhwi-tᵊl-ər , ˈwi- \
noun
Examples of whittle in a Sentence
Verb
He was sitting on the porch, whittling a stick. She whittled a walking stick from a maple tree branch.Recent Examples on the Web: Noun
Whittle fed Hartshorn and then scored back-to-back free-position goals, including her 200th career goal. — Katherine Dunn, baltimoresun.com, "Maryland women hold off Johns Hopkins, 19-16, to advance to Big Ten final," 5 May 2017 Whittle down the big idea, ratchet it up a notch, and repeat to a beat—fight the power, and imagine all the people living life in peace, because God is a d.j. — Matthew Trammell, The New Yorker, "Polarized Punks," 7 Mar. 2017Recent Examples on the Web: Verb
Lakers forward Kyle Kuzma, who is dealing with an ankle injury, was the final cut as the roster was whittled to 12 following Saturday’s exhibition loss to Australia in Melbourne. — Adam Himmelsbach, BostonGlobe.com, "All four Celtics make Team USA final roster for FIBA World Cup," 24 Aug. 2019 The field was whittled down by two rounds of stroke play before match play began Wednesday. — Julia Stumbaugh, azcentral, "Texas State's Evan White wins 95th Arizona Amateur Golf Championship," 3 Aug. 2019 The 16-year-old beat out the 40 million players who entered the online competition, which was whittled down to 100 participants who went at it Sunday at Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York. — Chris Bumbaca, USA TODAY, "16-year-old Kyle 'Bugha' Giersdorf takes home $3 million prize for Fortnite World Cup win," 28 July 2019 In the debate over how to best ensure optimal healthcare for Americans, former Vice President Joe Biden is rooted on not allowing the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to be whittled away in the courts by the Trump Administration. — Bo Erickson, CBS News, "Biden defends and hopes to build on Obamacare in face of "Medicare for all" calls," 15 July 2019 Snyderburn said there were originally 30 to 40 buildings to incorporate into the mural, but that number was whittled down to a little more than 20 of the early days’ most prominent buildings. — Laura Bednar, cleveland.com, "Independence beautifies downtown area with historical mural," 29 June 2019 The season started in May with nine professional bakers and over the ensuing weeks the filed was whittled down to three finalists. — Chuck Barney, The Mercury News, "‘Best Baker in America’: And the winner is …," 24 June 2019 The two candidates are in the process of being whittled down from a list of ten hopefuls by Conservative party MPs. — Adam Rasmi, Quartz, "Fewer than 160,000 people will select the next UK prime minister. Who are they?," 19 June 2019 Once the shortlist was whittled down to five contestants, the Kiyan Prince Foundation won out with a whopping 63% of the share. — SI.com, "QPR Confirm Loftus Road Will Be Renamed The Kiyan Prince Foundation Stadium," 7 June 2019These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'whittle.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for whittle
whittle
verbEnglish Language Learners Definition of whittle
: to cut or shape (a piece of wood) by cutting small pieces from it : to make or shape (something) from a piece of wood by cutting small pieces from it
See the full definition for whittle in the English Language Learners Dictionary
whittle
verb
whit·tle
| \ ˈhwi-tᵊl
, ˈwi-\
, ˈwi-\
whittled;
whittling
Kids Definition of whittle
1
: to cut or shave off chips from wood : shape by cutting or shaving off chips from wood
2
: to reduce little by little
They are trying to whittle down their spending.
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