whittle away

phrasal verb

whittled away; whittling away; whittles away

: to reduce or get rid of (something) slowly

I'm still trying to whittle away a few more pounds.

Examples of whittle away in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Jones has been the league's best backup while going 3-0 to lead perhaps the most unlikely 4-1 team in the NFL — the team’s best five-game start since 2021 — given the attrition that has whittled away the depth across San Francisco’s roster. —Andrew Greif, NBC news, 3 Oct. 2025

Bednar’s deservedly built up a lot of political capital from the ’22 Stanley Cup championship — but each postseason that’s followed has whittled away the comfort. —Troy Renck, Denver Post, 29 Sep. 2025

Without historical habitat protections, a butterfly species such as this one might disappear entirely between underfunded surveys, vanishing before anyone realizes, while species such as the manatee may continue shrinking as previous methods of intervention get whittled away. —Lois Parshley, The Atlantic, 25 Aug. 2025

But for years, Republicans have whittled away at the infrastructure of the original ACA. —Elisabeth Rosenthal, Miami Herald, 12 Aug. 2025

Rhymes for whittle away

• andromache
• bioassay
• cabriolet
• cercariae
• communique
• companionway
• compositae
• decussate
• examinee
• fabaceae
• glyphosate
• microarray