whit·tle
ˈ(h)wi-tᵊl 
whittled; whittling
ˈ(h)wi-tᵊl-iŋ
ˈ(h)wit-liŋ
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
archaic
: a large knife
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
Christopher Knight, Los Angeles Times, 17 Apr. 2025
Those responses would be collected and reviewed as both parties whittle the enormous pool of people down to just 12 jurors and a handful of alternates.
—Cheyenne Roundtree, Rolling Stone, 14 Mar. 2025
The Grizzlies opened a 10-point lead at 49-39 with 4:40 to play, but the Crusaders whittled the deficit to three and had the ball with 25 seconds to play.
—John Maffei, San Diego Union-Tribune, 19 Feb. 2025
The program's delegates gathered ideas (nearly 2,000 in all) for months, whittled them down to a handful for each city voting district, and now have turned the final list of possible projects back to the people to vote on.
—Karri Peifer, Axios, 3 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for whittle
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Verb
The show was ably organized by Evans, who whittled the initial selection from Bachardy’s prodigious archive, with Dennis Carr, Huntington chief curator of American art, and Karla Nielsen, the library’s senior curator of literary collections.
—Christopher Knight, Los Angeles Times, 17 Apr. 2025
Those responses would be collected and reviewed as both parties whittle the enormous pool of people down to just 12 jurors and a handful of alternates.
—Cheyenne Roundtree, Rolling Stone, 14 Mar. 2025
The Grizzlies opened a 10-point lead at 49-39 with 4:40 to play, but the Crusaders whittled the deficit to three and had the ball with 25 seconds to play.
—John Maffei, San Diego Union-Tribune, 19 Feb. 2025
The program's delegates gathered ideas (nearly 2,000 in all) for months, whittled them down to a handful for each city voting district, and now have turned the final list of possible projects back to the people to vote on.
—Karri Peifer, Axios, 3 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for whittle
Cite this Entry
“Whittle.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/whittle. Accessed 5 May. 2025.
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