whittle

whit·tle  (hwtl, wtl)

v. whit·tled, whit·tling, whit·tles

v.tr.

1.

a. To cut small bits or pare shavings from (a piece of wood).

b. To fashion or shape in this way: whittle a toy boat.

2. To reduce or eliminate gradually, as if by whittling with a knife: whittled down the debt by making small payments.

v.intr.

To cut or shape wood with a knife.

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[From Middle English whyttel, knife, variant of thwitel, from thwiten, to whittle, from Old English thwtan, to strike, whittle down.]

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whittler n.

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whittle

Verb

[-tling, -tled]

1. to make (an object) by cutting or shaving pieces from (a piece of wood) with a small knife

2. whittle down or away to reduce in size or effectiveness gradually: my self-confidence had been whittled away to almost nothing [Old English thwītan to cut]

Thesaurus

Noun	1.	Whittle - English aeronautical engineer who invented the jet aircraft engine (1907-1996) Frank Whittle, Sir Frank Whittle
Verb	1.	whittle - cut small bits or pare shavings from; "whittle a piece of wood" pare cut - separate with or as if with an instrument; "Cut the rope"

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whittle

verb carve, cut, hew, shape, trim, shave, pare

whittle something away undermine, reduce, destroy, consume, erode, eat away, wear away, cut down, cut, decrease, prune, scale down

Translations

whittle [ˈwɪtl] vt to whittle away: whittle down → ir reduciendo

whittle [ˈwɪtl] vt to whittle away, to whittle down [+ costs] → réduire, rogner

whittle [ˈwɪtl] vt to whittle away or down (costs etc) → verringern

whittle [ˈwɪtl] vt to whittle away: whittle down → ridurre, tagliare

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whittle

v whittle [ˈwitl]

to cut or shape (eg a stick) with a knife. sny, kerf يَبْري، يَقْطَع بالسِّكّين дялам ořezávat snitte (zurecht)schnitzen λαξεύω, πελεκώ tallar vestma بريدن veistellä tailler au couteau לְקַצֵץ छीलना obrezivati faragcsál meraut tálga, skera út intagliare 削る (칼로) 나무를 깎다, 깎아서 만들다 drožti, drožinėti drāzt (ar nazi); asināt meraut snijden spikke, skjære ut strugać aparar a ciopli/a tăia cu cuţitul обстругивать orezávať rezljati rezati tälja, karva เหลา yontmak 削 стругати, обточувати ножем چاقو سے چھوٹا ٹکڑا کاٹنا gọt; vót 削