whittle down
phrasal verbTo save this word, you'll need to log in.
whittled down; whittling down; whittles down
Definition of whittle down
: to gradually make (something) smaller by removing parts
We whittled the list down to four people.
Comments on whittle down
What made you want to look up whittle down? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).
Test Your Vocabulary
Obscure Shapes
- Something that is ooid is shaped like:
Can you spell these 10 commonly misspelled words?
TAKE THE QUIZ
Test Your Knowledge - and learn some interesting things along the way.
TAKE THE QUIZLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridgedWords at Play
Ask the Editors
Share whittle down