whittling (down)

present participle of whittle (down)

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for whittling (down)
Verb
  • The script is very confusing to read, cutting back and forth between the dream world and reality.
    Jack Dunn, Variety, 20 Oct. 2025
  • Consider using a soil thermometer to determine when to start cutting back your plants.
    Benjamin Vogt, Better Homes & Gardens, 20 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • But a chat message from Washington to a colleague, released to KUOW and ProPublica last week through a public records request, spells out additional reasons for turning down Daugaard’s proposal.
    Ashley Hiruko, ProPublica, 6 Oct. 2025
  • In Georgia, a neonatal intensive care unit colleague who asked not to be named says parents are turning down Tylenol use for premature babies born with a heart condition that has long been successfully treated with the medication.
    Edith Bracho-Sanchez, CNN Money, 26 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • The footage showed the elephant, which may have weighed 10,000 pounds, knocking down a female tourist into the waters with her trunk, and then briefly pinning her before giving up, the outlet reported.
    David Chiu, PEOPLE, 7 Oct. 2025
  • Firefighters initially took a defensive stance, fighting the blaze from the outside the building to stop its spread, before knocking down the flames enough for crews to enter the business, which had its windows boarded up because of vandalism earlier in the week.
    Darrell Smith, Sacbee.com, 2 Oct. 2025
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.

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Cite this Entry

“Whittling (down).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/whittling%20%28down%29. Accessed 22 Oct. 2025.

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