whittle

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   to cut or shape wood by repeatedly shaving off small pieces with a knife

   He sat by the fire and began to whittle a branch into a spoon.

2. 2
   verb

   to reduce something gradually, especially by removing small amounts or eliminating options

   Successive experiments helped whittle the list of possible explanations down to two.

3. 3
   noun

   archaic: a knife, especially a pocketknife or sheath knife

   The traveler carried a stout whittle at his belt.

Common collocations

• whittle down Verb + adverb

From Middle English whittel ("large knife"), an altered form of thwitel, related to Old English thwitan ("to cut, whittle"). The verb first meant shaping wood with a knife; its figurative sense developed from removing material little by little.

Topics

External links

• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary
• Google Images