as in cutting
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.
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Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for whittling
Verb
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Little River Canyon National Preserve introduces visitors to a magnificent gorge that was created by the Little River cutting across the top of Lookout Mountain.—
Tara Massouleh McCay,
Southern Living,
4 Oct. 2025 -
The trial was designed to appeal to cash-conscious customers, who’ve been cutting eating out from their budgets, hurting restaurants’ profits.—
Jordan Valinsky,
CNN Money,
4 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Like NexLawn's upcoming Vidar robo-mowers, the futuristic rover will navigate the garden using LiDAR and vision sensors while clipping the grass.—
New Atlas,
New Atlas,
11 Sep. 2025
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Its audio comes through clean and detail-rich, with noise cancelling and automatic limiting to handle background chaos without clipping your voice.—
Juhi Wadia,
PC Magazine,
9 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Measure your blood pressure before taking medication for lowering blood pressure.—
Angela Ryan Lee,
Health,
4 Oct. 2025
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Common generic drugs include cholesterol-lowering drug Lipitor (atorvastatin) and antiseizure drug Neurontin (gabapentin).—
Fran Kritz,
Verywell Health,
3 Oct. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Whittling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/whittling. Accessed 6 Oct. 2025.
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