Synonyms of whittle

whittle

verb

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

• cut
• clip
• pare
• drop
• curtail
• shorten
• reduce
• retrench
• prune
• abridge
• truncate
• cut down
• trim
• lessen
• slash
• deplete
• dwindle
• cut back
• abbreviate
• decrease
• nick
• condense
• dent
• dock
• downsize
• crop
• constrict
• lower
• compress
• ease
• abate
• shrink
• knock down
• minimize
• downscale
• contract
• deflate
• de-escalate
• modify
• modulate
• moderate
• qualify

Dissimilar Words

• extend
• inflate
• swell
• prolong
• lengthen
• dilate
• add (to)
• elongate
• supplement
• complement
• blow up
• enhance
• increase
• distend
• intensify
• heighten
• expand
• protract
• augment
• enlarge
• raise
• amplify
• boost
• escalate
• redouble
• aggrandize

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of whittle

This year’s effort was initially much broader, but a last-minute deal whittled it down to limit certain local taxes in return for legislators’ dropping a measure that would have required anti-tax measures to meet a two-thirds threshold. — Dan Walters, Mercury News, 27 Aug. 2026

Voters set up races for four Orange County commission seats in November by whittling casts of candidates to two in districts 2, 6, 7 and 8. — Stephen Hudak, The Orlando Sentinel, 19 Aug. 2026

Those closures whittled the company's footprint down to about 70 locations in Arizona and Nevada, which will be permanently shuttered on Wednesday. — Amelia Lucas, CNBC, 5 Aug. 2026

As the drugs whittle waistlines, their impact is rippling beyond the bathroom scale and into a surprisingly wide swath of American life. — Elyse Moody, Architectural Digest, 27 July 2026