Definition of whittle
archaic
: a large knife
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Recent Examples of whittle from the Web
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Whittle fed Hartshorn and then scored back-to-back free-position goals, including her 200th career goal.
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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.
These 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.
Origin and Etymology of whittle
Middle English whittel, alteration of thwitel, from thwiten to whittle, from Old English thwītan; akin to Old Norse thveita to hew
NEW! Time Traveler
First Known Use: 15th century
in the meaning defined above
See Words from the same yearDefinition of whittle
whittled;
whittling
play
\ˈhwit-liŋ, ˈwit-; ˈhwi-tᵊl-iŋ, ˈwi-\
1 a
: 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
Examples of whittle in a Sentence
He was sitting on the porch, whittling a stick.
She whittled a walking stick from a maple tree branch.
Recent Examples of whittle from the Web
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Hadid also managed to pull off of a smart styling trick by tucking the oversize sweatshirt into her spandex shorts, a move that nicely drew the eye towards her whittled waist.
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Working off witness testimony and hunches, investigators whittled down the potential pool of suspects over the years.
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Search firms initially considered 195 applicants until the list was whittled down to 37 for preliminary interviews and 10 for full committee interviews — until the three finalists were named.
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More than 150 companies applied before the field was whittled down.
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The result could be fewer low-income families getting child-care aid, potentially swelling a wait list that has been whittled down to as little as 101 families from a peak of 11,000.
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The competition was judged by a panel of city officials and outside design experts, who whittled the field down to three finalists: SmithGroupJJR, Min Design and Branch Creative.
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Facebook’s security chief, Alex Stamos, plans to step down this year after clashes with other executives and an internal reorganization that whittled down his responsibilities.
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Tryouts began in January with the league holding a combine the following month to whittle the player pool down to 250.
These 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.
First Known Use of whittle
1552
WHITTLE Defined for English Language Learners
whittle
Definition of whittle for English Language Learners
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: 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
WHITTLE Defined for Kids
Definition of whittle for Students
whittled;
whittling
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.
Learn More about whittle
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See words that rhyme with whittle Spanish Central: Translation of whittle Nglish: Translation of whittle for Spanish speakers
Seen and Heard
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