whittle
verb (used with object)
to cut, trim, or shape (a stick, piece of wood, etc.) by carving off bits with a knife.
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whittle
1 American
[hwit-l, wit-l]
/ ˈʰwɪt l, ˈwɪt l /
verb (used with object)
-
whittles,
present (3rd person singular)
-
whittled,
past participle, past
-
whittling
present participle
-
to cut, trim, or shape (a stick, piece of wood, etc.) by carving off bits with a knife.
-
to form by whittling.
to whittle a figure.
-
to cut off (a bit).
-
to reduce the amount of, as if by whittling; pare down; take away by degrees (usually followed by down, away, etc.).
to whittle down the company's overhead; to whittle away one's inheritance.
verb (used without object)
-
whittles,
present (3rd person singular)
-
whittled,
past participle, past
-
whittling
present participle
-
to whittle wood or the like with a knife, as in shaping something or as a mere aimless diversion.
to spend an afternoon whittling.
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to tire oneself or another by worrying or fussing.
noun
Whittle
2
American
[hwit-l, wit-l]
/ ˈʰwɪt l, ˈwɪt l /
noun
Whittle
1
British
/ ˈwɪtəl /
noun
whittle
2
British
/ ˈwɪtəl /
verb
-
to cut or shave strips or pieces from (wood, a stick, etc), esp with a knife
-
(tr) to make or shape by paring or shaving
-
(tr; often foll by away, down, off, etc) to reduce, destroy, or wear away gradually
-
dialect (intr) to complain or worry about something continually
noun
Whittle
Scientific
/ wĭt′l /
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
whittlesimple
-
whittlessimple
-
have whittledperfect
-
has whittledperfect
-
am whittlingprogressive
-
are whittlingprogressive
-
is whittlingprogressive
-
have been whittlingperfect progressive
-
has been whittlingperfect progressive
Past
-
whittledsimple
-
had whittledperfect
-
was whittlingprogressive
-
were whittlingprogressive
-
had been whittlingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of whittle
1375–1425; late Middle English (noun), dialectal variant of thwitel knife, Old English thwīt ( an ) to cut + -el -le
Explanation
To whittle is to pare or carve away. Wood carvers whittle pieces of wood, removing bit by bit until what's left is a sailor with a yellow raincoat or a lone wolf howling at the moon. Whittle can also mean to reduce an amount or number of items. In this sense, it is commonly paired with the words away or down. A courtroom attorney might "whittle away" at a defendant's alibi until the truth emerges. You might "whittle down" a to-do list or "whittle away" at your student loan debt every month. But only a highly skilled wood carver can whittle a chunk of pine into that old salty dog with a yellow raincoat.
Vocabulary lists containing whittle
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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"Everyday Use" by Alice Walker
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100 SAT words Beginning with W,X,Y, and Z
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Builders had hoped to capitalize on a busy spring buying season to whittle down inventories, but it was disappointing.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 16, 2026
If you have a highly concentrated stock allocation with large built-up gains, you can gradually whittle down your position and use the $6,000 deduction to minimize or cancel the tax hit, Adams says.
From Barron's ● Apr. 25, 2026
He must whittle that number down to 26 as England accelerate planning for their opening World Cup game against Croatia on 17 June in Arlington, Texas.
From BBC ● Apr. 1, 2026
They whittle it down to a list that is then discussed with the five standing members of the committee.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 31, 2026
Riders competing in ordinary weekday events needed to whittle themselves down another 5 pounds or so, while those in the lowest echelons of the sport couldn’t weigh much more than 100.
From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand
The pioneering work on the jet engine by Sir Frank Whittle has been celebrated with a new set of stamps from Royal Mail.
From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026
Whittle, who was born in Coventry and founded Power Jets in Rugby to build the aircraft engines he designed, before going on to continue his pioneering work in Gloucestershire, died 30 years ago this year.
From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026
There are 12 stamps in the set - eight aircraft and four of Frank Whittle.
From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026
Bex Whittle, from Redmarley, has used the baby bank on and off for 16 months.
From BBC ● Mar. 26, 2026
"The world will be better off for that sigh," John Bill said, as he settled down in his chair, and heard Mrs. Whittle step off the stair into the street.
From The Mystery of the Locks by Edgar Watson Howe
That’s because inflation whittles away at the real purchasing power of those future interest payments.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 17, 2026
A newer House version whittles this down to 23 countries.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 10, 2025
This event often whittles down the primary field to a handful of candidates.
From Reuters ● Aug. 16, 2023
Every day, new development next to I-5 whittles away at opportunities to build a connected landscape in Southwest Washington.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 1, 2023
The Damasio team whittles it down to one.
From "Phineas Gage" by John Fleischman
Even the final list of 16 host cities, whittled down from 23, came down to his personal preferences.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026
That marks the reversal of a 15-year period when company buybacks and mergers-and-acquisitions activity whittled down the actual number of shares out there to invest, giving stocks fuel to keep rising, said McElligott.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 11, 2026
That percentage rises to almost 59% when those fixtures are whittled down to just competitive qualifiers, which after this summer will ultimately have been responsible for taking the Tartan Army to three tournaments.
From BBC ● May 28, 2026
In the face of opposition from riders and delays in building charging stations, authorities have since whittled down the proposal to cover just 11 streets spread over 0.5 square kilometres.
From Barron's ● May 19, 2026
Zheng held the little whale Razi had whittled.
From "The Boy Who Met a Whale" by Nizrana Farook
Brands have cut weight by whittling away every gram.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 19, 2026
But the key is to put a cap on how much you spend to avoid falling into the trap of whittling away your winnings.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 12, 2025
And Bryson DeChambeau was whittling away after losing five of the first seven to Fitzpatrick.
From BBC ● Sep. 28, 2025
Doing so would fast-track the bills into law without the normal whittling down that happens in committee hearings.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 1, 2025
Pete says to me, whittling off fine splinters from the ends of his chopsticks.
From "Native Speaker" by Chang-rae Lee
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
