whittle down

verb

whittled down; whittling down; whittles down

: to gradually make (something) smaller by removing parts

We whittled the list down to four people.

Examples of whittle down in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Before the 2022 near-total ban, a patchwork of laws had whittled down access to just one clinic by 2019. — Kacen Bayless, Kansas City Star, 28 Oct. 2026

Weber and others have pointed to the example of Nevada, where a similar list of about 16,000 potential noncitizen voters was whittled down to fewer than 200 by the Department of Justice. — Sharon Bernstein, Sacbee.com, 26 Oct. 2026

Judge Mr Justice Bennathan whittled down a list of 50 individuals to swear in the 12-strong jury. — Jake Kanter, Deadline, 14 Oct. 2026

This problem, largely created prior to 2011, has been whittled down significantly, however, under Lamont’s tenure. — Keith M. Phaneuf, Hartford Courant, 3 Oct. 2026

Rhymes for whittle down

• chinatown
• tumbledown
• adown
• blowdown
• breakdown
• countdown
• crackdown
• crosstown
• downtown
• drawdown
• dropdown
• facedown