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

The field whittles down from 70 to 30 golfers, with the season victor revealed after the Tour Championship. — Steven Louis Goldstein, New York Times, 31 July 2026

Lamont’s chief fiscal focus since 2020 has been on channeling $11 billion in surpluses — forced by aggressive savings rules — to whittle down a hefty pension debt created over seven decades prior to 2011. — Keith M. Phaneuf, Hartford Courant, 17 July 2026

Ultimately, the agency whittled down its deficit to $66 million. — Jillian Taylor, StateImpact, 30 June 2026

With the World Cup whittling down from 48 teams to 32 teams after an exciting group stage slate, the first two knockout round matches in Arlington are set. — Nick Harris, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 28 June 2026

Rhymes for whittle down

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