whittle down — verb cut away in small pieces • Syn: ↑whittle away, ↑wear away • Hypernyms: ↑damage • Verb Frames: Somebody s something Something s something * * * ˌ … Useful english dictionary
whittle down — phrasal verb [transitive] Word forms whittle down : present tense I/you/we/they whittle down he/she/it whittles down present participle whittling down past tense whittled down past participle whittled down to reduce the number of people or things … English dictionary
whittle down — PHRASAL VERB To whittle down a group or thing means to gradually make it smaller. [V n P to/from num/n] He had whittled eight interviewees down to two... [V n P to/from num/n] By September, they will have whittled the list down to a winner... [V… … English dictionary
whittle down — cut down, reduce … English contemporary dictionary
whittle — [hwit′ l, wit′ l] vt. whittled, whittling [< obs. whittle, a knife < ME whyttel, var. of thwitel, dim. < OE thwitan, to cut < IE base * twei , to strike, cut] 1. a) to cut or pare thin shavings from (wood) with a knife b) to make or… … English World dictionary
whittle something down — ˌwhittle sthˈdown derived to reduce the size or number of sth • I finally managed to whittle down the names on the list to only five. Main entry: ↑whittlederived … Useful english dictionary
whittle — whit|tle [ˈwıtl] v [Date: 1500 1600; Origin: whittle large knife (15 19 centuries), from thwittle (14 19 centuries), from thwite to whittle (11 19 centuries), from Old English thwitan] 1.) also whittle down [T] to gradually make something smaller … Dictionary of contemporary English
whittle — whittler, n. /hwit l, wit l/, v., whittled, whittling, n. v.t. 1. to cut, trim, or shape (a stick, piece of wood, etc.) by carving off bits with a knife. 2. to form by whittling: to whittle a figure. 3. to cut off (a bit). 4. to reduce the amount … Universalium
whittle away — verb cut away in small pieces • Syn: ↑whittle down, ↑wear away • Hypernyms: ↑damage • Verb Frames: Somebody s something Something s something * * * ˌ … Useful english dictionary
whittle — [c]/ˈwɪtl / (say witl) verb (whittled, whittling) –verb (t) 1. to cut, trim, or shape (a stick, piece of wood, etc.) by taking off bits with a knife. 2. to cut off (a bit or bits). –verb (i) 3. to cut bits or chips from wood or the like with a… …
