Whittle

¹

[hwit-l, wit-l]

noun

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

whittle

²

[hwit-l, wit-l]

verb (used with object)

whittled, whittling 

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.

verb (used without object)

whittled, whittling 

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

¹

/ 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

noun

1. dialect,  a knife, esp a large one

Whittle

²

/ ˈwɪtəl /

noun

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

Whittle

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

Other Word Forms

• whittler noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of Whittle¹

1375–1425; late Middle English (noun), dialectal variant of thwitel knife, Old English thwīt ( an ) to cut + -el -le

Word History and Origins

Origin of Whittle¹

C16: variant of C15 thwittle large knife, from Old English thwitel, from thwītan to cut; related to Old Norse thveitr cut, thveita to beat

Example Sentences

Some limited partners say their investment opportunities are already being whittled down as firms allocate more deals to their evergreen funds, and cut back allocations to institutional funds.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

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

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Penelope gave a slow spin to the makeshift globe she had fashioned out of a roundish potato and a long birch twig that had been whittled to a point.

Read more on Literature

But the key is to put a cap on how much you spend to avoid falling into the trap of whittling away your winnings.

Read more on MarketWatch

Once she has taken the oath of office, the Republican majority in the House will be whittled down to five votes – 219-214.

Read more on BBC

Related Words

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