- whittle something away/down
- reduce something by degrees.→ whittle
English new terms dictionary. 2014.
whittle something away/down
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whittle something down — whittle (something) down to gradually reduce or destroy something. By halftime our team s lead had been whittled down to only two points. College is so expensive, after two years, my college fund has been whittled away to almost nothing. Usage… … New idioms dictionary
whittle — verb 1》 carve (wood) by repeatedly cutting small slices from it. ↘make by whittling. 2》 (whittle something away/down) reduce something by degrees. Origin C16: from dialect whittle knife … English new terms dictionary
whittle away — verb cut away in small pieces • Syn: ↑whittle down, ↑wear away • Hypernyms: ↑damage • Verb Frames: Somebody s something Something s something * * * ˌ … Useful english dictionary
whittle down — whittle (something) down to gradually reduce or destroy something. By halftime our team s lead had been whittled down to only two points. College is so expensive, after two years, my college fund has been whittled away to almost nothing. Usage… … New idioms dictionary
whittle down — verb cut away in small pieces • Syn: ↑whittle away, ↑wear away • Hypernyms: ↑damage • Verb Frames: Somebody s something Something s something * * * ˌ … Useful english dictionary
whittle — verb (I, T) to cut a piece of wood into a particular shape by cutting off small pieces with a small knife whittle sth away phrasal verb (T) to gradually reduce the amount or value of something: centralizing measures that had whittled away the… … Longman dictionary of contemporary English
whittle — [[t](h)wɪ̱t(ə)l[/t]] whittles, whittling, whittled VERB If you whittle something from a piece of wood, you carve it by cutting pieces off the wood with a knife. [V n] He whittled a new handle for his ax... [V n] Chitty sat in his rocking chair… … English dictionary
whittle — whit|tle [ˈwıtl] v [Date: 1500 1600; Origin: whittle large knife (15 19 centuries), from thwittle (14 19 centuries), from thwite to whittle (11 19 centuries), from Old English thwitan] 1.) also whittle down [T] to gradually make something smaller … Dictionary of contemporary English
whittle — whit|tle [ wıtl, hwıtl ] verb transitive to make an object out of wood by cutting pieces off the wood with a small knife ,whittle a way phrasal verb intransitive or transitive to gradually reduce the amount or importance of something: The team… … Usage of the words and phrases in modern English
whittle — whittler, n. /hwit l, wit l/, v., whittled, whittling, n. v.t. 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 … Universalium
