whittle (redirected from whittling away)

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 [ˈwɪt^əl]

vb

1. (Life Sciences & Allied Applications / Forestry) to cut or shave strips or pieces from (wood, a stick, etc.), esp with a knife

2. (Life Sciences & Allied Applications / Forestry) (tr) to make or shape by paring or shaving

3. (tr; often foll by away, down, off, etc.) to reduce, destroy, or wear away gradually

4. Northern English dialect (intr) to complain or worry about something continually

n

(Engineering / Tools) Brit dialect a knife, esp a large one

[variant of C15 thwittle large knife, from Old English thwitel, from thwītan to cut; related to Old Norse thveitr cut, thveita to beat]

whittler  n

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Whittle [ˈwɪt^əl]

n

(Biographies / Whittle, Sir Frank (1907-1996) M, English, TECHNOLOGY: engineer, TECHNOLOGY: inventor) Sir Frank. 1907-96, English engineer, who invented the jet engine for aircraft; flew first British jet aircraft (1941)

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 Chitty sat in his rocking chair whittling a piece of wood.

whittle something away undermine, reduce, destroy, consume, erode, eat away, wear away I believe the Government's aim is to whittle away the Welfare State.

whittle something or someone down reduce, cut down, cut, decrease, prune, scale down He had whittled the twenty interviewees down to two.

Translations

whittle [ˈwɪtl] VT [+ wood, shape] → tallar(con cuchillo)

whittle away

A. VT + ADV (= reduce) [+ savings, amount] → ir reduciendo
our sovereignty is gradually being whittled away → poco a poco está mermando nuestra soberanía

B. VI + ADV to whittle away at sth (lit) → tallar algo (fig) → ir reduciendo algo

whittle down VT + ADV [+ workforce, amount] → reducir
the short-list has been whittled down to three → hemos reducido el número de candidatos preseleccionados a tres

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whittle [ˈ^hwɪt^əl]

whittle down

vt sep (= reduce) → réduire
to whittle sth down to sth → réduire qch à qch

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whittle

vt → schnitzen

vi to whittle (away) at something → an etw (dat) → (herum)schnippeln or -schnitzen or -schneiden

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whittle [ˈwɪtl] vt (wood) → intagliare

whittle away vt + adv (fig) → ridurre

whittle down vt + adv (fig) → ridurre, tagliare

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whittle [ˈwɪtl] vt (wood) → intagliare

whittle away vt + adv (fig) → ridurre

whittle down vt + adv (fig) → 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 veistää tailler au couteau לְקַצֵץ छीलना obrezivati faragcsál meraut tálga, skera út intagliare 削る 조금씩 깎다 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 用刀削 стругати, обточувати ножем چاقو سے چھوٹا ٹکڑا کاٹنا gọt; vót 削