whittle down
phrasal 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
Keep in mind, just from that morning pitch session, which starts at 7 a.m. and ends at 8:50 a.m., the writers generate 40 pages of ideas that are then sent to Kimmel, and usually whittled down to two or three pages.
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Marcus Jones, IndieWire, 20 June 2025
Our team then analyzed the insights and whittled down the winners, naming these 16 styles the absolute best swimsuits for women.
—Esme Benjamin, People.com, 20 June 2025
Higher capital requirements can whittle down a bank’s balance sheet and credit supply by bolstering a lender’s funding costs and choking off their willingness to lend — as well as waning their appetite for risk.
—Ruxandra Iordache,april Roach, CNBC, 6 June 2025
Eight players, whittled down from more than 500,000 original applicants, will battle it out on a bespoke French Open version of the mobile game Tennis Clash for a €5,000 (£4,210; $5,636) prize pot, which is shared between the winner and the runner-up.
—Charlie Eccleshare, New York Times, 19 May 2025
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Marcus Jones, IndieWire, 20 June 2025
Our team then analyzed the insights and whittled down the winners, naming these 16 styles the absolute best swimsuits for women.
—Esme Benjamin, People.com, 20 June 2025
Higher capital requirements can whittle down a bank’s balance sheet and credit supply by bolstering a lender’s funding costs and choking off their willingness to lend — as well as waning their appetite for risk.
—Ruxandra Iordache,april Roach, CNBC, 6 June 2025
Eight players, whittled down from more than 500,000 original applicants, will battle it out on a bespoke French Open version of the mobile game Tennis Clash for a €5,000 (£4,210; $5,636) prize pot, which is shared between the winner and the runner-up.
—Charlie Eccleshare, New York Times, 19 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for whittle down
Cite this Entry
“Whittle down.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/whittle%20down. Accessed 3 Jul. 2025.
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