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• whittle
  whittle

  verb (used with object)

  to cut, trim, or shape (a stick, piece of wood, etc.) by carving off bits with a knife.
• Whittle
  Whittle

  noun

  Sir Frank, 1907–96, English engineer and inventor.

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

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 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.

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verb (used without object)

• whittles,
  present (3rd person singular)
• whittled,
  past participle,  past
• whittling
  present participle

1. to whittle wood or the like with a knife, as in shaping something or as a mere aimless diversion.

   to spend an afternoon whittling.

2. to tire oneself or another by worrying or fussing.

noun

1. British Dialect. a knife, especially a large one, as a carving knife or a butcher knife.

Whittle ² American  

[hwit-l, wit-l] / ˈʰwɪt l, ˈwɪt l /

noun

1. Sir Frank, 1907–96, English engineer and inventor.

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Whittle ¹ British  

/ ˈwɪtəl /

noun

1. Sir Frank. 1907–96, English engineer, who invented the jet engine for aircraft; flew first British jet aircraft (1941)

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whittle ² British  

/ ˈwɪtəl /

verb

1. to cut or shave strips or pieces from (wood, a stick, etc), esp with a knife

2. (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. dialect (intr) to complain or worry about something continually

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noun

1. dialect a knife, esp a large one

Whittle Scientific  

/ wĭt′l /

1. British aeronautical engineer and inventor who developed the first aircraft engine powered by jet propulsion in 1937.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• whittler
  noun

Inflected Forms

Participles

• whittling
  present
• whittled
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• whittle
  simple
• whittles
  simple
• have whittled
  perfect
• has whittled
  perfect
• am whittling
  progressive
• are whittling
  progressive
• is whittling
  progressive
• have been whittling
  perfect progressive
• has been whittling
  perfect progressive

Past

• whittled
  simple
• had whittled
  perfect
• was whittling
  progressive
• were whittling
  progressive
• had been whittling
  perfect progressive

Future

• will whittle
  simple
• will have whittled
  perfect
• will be whittling
  progressive
• will have been whittling
  perfect progressive

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.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

whittle Whittle whittles whittled whittling

For more than a decade, I’ve been teaching a course at the California Institute of the Arts called American Drama Now, and each year the selection of plays has become harder to whittle down.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 29, 2026

Builders had hoped to capitalize on a busy spring buying season to whittle down inventories, but it was disappointing.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 16, 2026

Nonprofits are hoping for an influx of cash from the newly wealthy—not only those looking to whittle down tax bills but a new crop of donors with deeply held convictions about charitable giving.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 14, 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

Sure enough, after handing Tree-ear the bowls to wash, Crane-man sat down with his knife and a sturdy straight branch and began to whittle a new crutch.

From "A Single Shard" by Linda Sue Park

There are 12 stamps in the set - eight aircraft and four of Frank Whittle.

From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026

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

Speaking at the Workmen's Hall in Bedwas, in the Caerphilly constituency won by Lindsay Whittle, Rhun ap Iorwerth said the by-election had made "history".

From BBC ● Mar. 30, 2026

But "gamifying" people's data in this way, can actually change how they listen to music, says Richard Whittle, Professor of artificial intelligence and public policy at the University of Salford.

From BBC ● Dec. 3, 2025

Mr. Whittle ended his career in a public-house, of which he became proprietor after marrying the widow who kept it.

From John Leech, His Life and Work. Vol. 1 by William Powell Frith

That’s because inflation whittles away at the real purchasing power of those future interest payments.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 17, 2026

Continuing to work whittles away at what time we have left to travel and enjoy the rest of the world.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 19, 2025

Even as the state hospital whittles down its waitlist, it’s still grappling with how to handle the influx of patients with a wide range of needs.

From Seattle Times ● May 28, 2024

This event often whittles down the primary field to a handful of candidates.

From Reuters ● Aug. 16, 2023

The Damasio team whittles it down to one.

From "Phineas Gage" by John Fleischman

The longlist, referred to as the Booker Dozen, will be whittled down to a shortlist on 22 September, before the winner is announced on 9 November.

From BBC ● Jul. 28, 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

At one point, the balance reached $11,000, but they have whittled it down to $6,000, Daniel-Hoste said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 29, 2026

Stanat said the board ordered that 13 positions be cut in the middle of the school year; he whittled the number to seven.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 30, 2026

He don’t try to do whittling and nothing else together since he near whittled his little finger off that time whilst telling ’bout how hard he use to work in Kentucky.

From "Elijah of Buxton" by Christopher Paul Curtis

Japan has been whittling down its debt load—which stands at about 200% of GDP—and is running one of the smallest budget deficits among major economies.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026

The first line of defense is knowing what the government is allowed to come after with Medicaid estate recovery, then working on whittling that pile down to nothing.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 25, 2026

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

“Dearest Ivy,” said Gran, setting down her whittling.

From "How to Disappear Completely" by Ali Standish

Related Words

• diminish
• erode
• lessen
• pare
• shave
• trim