as in to cut
to cause to diminish gradually by or as if by cutting off bits with a knife
He was sitting on the porch, whittling a stick.
Related Words
Relevance
Dissimilar Words
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of whittle
The Yankees won, 9-6, to whittle Toronto’s series lead to 2-1.
—
Chris Branch, New York Times, 8 Oct. 2025
Mann eventually whittled it down to $170 million.
—Mia Galuppo, HollywoodReporter, 7 Oct. 2025
Schools must follow state mandates on instructional hours, but states typically don’t set strict rules on how long a lunch period should be, so some principals whittle it down to twenty or twenty-five minutes.
—Jessica Winter, New Yorker, 4 Oct. 2025
The holders are one of 36 teams in the league phase, which kicks off on Tuesday and which, like last season, will consist of a mammoth 189 matches to whittle the field down to 24 by the end of January.
—Dan Cancian, Forbes.com, 16 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for whittle
Chris Branch, New York Times, 8 Oct. 2025
Mann eventually whittled it down to $170 million.
—Mia Galuppo, HollywoodReporter, 7 Oct. 2025
Schools must follow state mandates on instructional hours, but states typically don’t set strict rules on how long a lunch period should be, so some principals whittle it down to twenty or twenty-five minutes.
—Jessica Winter, New Yorker, 4 Oct. 2025
The holders are one of 36 teams in the league phase, which kicks off on Tuesday and which, like last season, will consist of a mammoth 189 matches to whittle the field down to 24 by the end of January.
—Dan Cancian, Forbes.com, 16 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for whittle
Recent Examples of Synonyms for whittle
Verb
-
An emergency order by the FAA on Thursday said airlines have to cut traffic by 4%, resulting in about 800 flight cancellations for Friday that increased to over 1,000 throughout the day, according to FlightAware.—
Emma Tucker,
CNN Money,
8 Nov. 2025
-
Southwest Airlines cut about 120 flights Friday.—
JOSH FUNK,
Arkansas Online,
8 Nov. 2025
Verb
-
Once Jeopardy's John Pork question was clipped for TikTok, users on the platform argued that the clue wasn't completely accurate, as John Pork appeared on social media as early as 2018, before generative AI was widely accessible.—
Wesley Stenzel,
Entertainment Weekly,
4 Nov. 2025
-
Melissa went on to tear through Cuba and the Bahamas before clipping Bermuda on its way out to sea.—
Anna Skinner,
MSNBC Newsweek,
3 Nov. 2025
Verb
-
Dan Rogers, vp and executive producer at the Opry, tells Billboard how the 20 album choices were pared down from the Opry 100 greatest songs list.—
Melinda Newman,
Billboard,
6 Nov. 2025
-
Her wavy, dark brunette hair was styled in a side part, while Queen Letizia’s makeup was pared back.—
Kelsey Stewart,
Footwear News,
6 Nov. 2025
Verb
-
When this happens, visibilities frequently drop to one-quarter of a mile or less.—
CA Weather Bot,
Sacbee.com,
8 Nov. 2025
-
Bears were once hunted so much in Japan that their population dropped precipitously – but environmental protections were introduced in the 1990s, allowing the bear population to recover.—
Jessie Yeung,
CNN Money,
7 Nov. 2025
Verb
-
The military seized power in 2020 on the pretext of curtailing the insecurity.—
CNN Money,
CNN Money,
11 Nov. 2025
-
The idea is that Refashion can curtail the need to create two separate garments that risk becoming part of the waste stream.—
Meghan Hall,
Sourcing Journal,
11 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Whittle.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/whittle. Accessed 19 Nov. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share