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
But outfitting a holiday tree comes with the opportunity to whittle down your seasonal decorating style.
—
Audrey Lee, Architectural Digest, 21 Oct. 2025
What started as a bracket of eight fall favorites has been whittled down to two, based on your votes.
—Angelika Ytuarte, jsonline.com, 20 Oct. 2025
From there, the competition whittled down until one was crowned victorious.
—Liz O'Connell, MSNBC Newsweek, 20 Oct. 2025
The initial judging process whittled down the longlist of 465 eligible albums to 50nominees, focusing on creative merit over mainstream popularity.
—Lars Brandle, Billboard, 16 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for whittle down
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Audrey Lee, Architectural Digest, 21 Oct. 2025
What started as a bracket of eight fall favorites has been whittled down to two, based on your votes.
—Angelika Ytuarte, jsonline.com, 20 Oct. 2025
From there, the competition whittled down until one was crowned victorious.
—Liz O'Connell, MSNBC Newsweek, 20 Oct. 2025
The initial judging process whittled down the longlist of 465 eligible albums to 50nominees, focusing on creative merit over mainstream popularity.
—Lars Brandle, Billboard, 16 Oct. 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 24 Oct. 2025.
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