whittle down
phrasal verb
whittled down; whittling down; whittles down
: to gradually make (something) smaller by removing parts
We whittled the list down to four people.
Examples of whittle down in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Kerr’s 12-man rotation could be whittled down to nine purely for health reasons.
—
Evan Webeck, The Mercury News, 28 Oct. 2024
The coaches are whittling down their teams from 14 contestants during the Battle Rounds to nine who will move on to The 3-Way Knockouts.
—Raechal Shewfelt, EW.com, 22 Oct. 2024
Within a week and a half, a record label in Bend, Oregon, had released a 16-track compilation dedicated to the style; another compilation, curated by Daniel and Machinedrum’s Travis Stewart, is due out this fall, whittled down from more than 90 submissions.
—Philip Sherburne, Pitchfork, 11 Oct. 2024
Spacey Unmasked, the Channel 4-Max documentary series detailing new allegations against the double-Oscar winner, has been nominated at the prestigious UK Grierson Awards, as the shortlist in each category is whittled down from eight docs to four.
—Max Goldbart, Deadline, 23 Sep. 2024
See all Example Sentences for whittle down 
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Evan Webeck, The Mercury News, 28 Oct. 2024
The coaches are whittling down their teams from 14 contestants during the Battle Rounds to nine who will move on to The 3-Way Knockouts.
—Raechal Shewfelt, EW.com, 22 Oct. 2024
Within a week and a half, a record label in Bend, Oregon, had released a 16-track compilation dedicated to the style; another compilation, curated by Daniel and Machinedrum’s Travis Stewart, is due out this fall, whittled down from more than 90 submissions.
—Philip Sherburne, Pitchfork, 11 Oct. 2024
Spacey Unmasked, the Channel 4-Max documentary series detailing new allegations against the double-Oscar winner, has been nominated at the prestigious UK Grierson Awards, as the shortlist in each category is whittled down from eight docs to four.
—Max Goldbart, Deadline, 23 Sep. 2024
See all Example Sentences for whittle down
Dictionary Entries Near whittle down
Cite this Entry
“Whittle down.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/whittle%20down. Accessed 21 Nov. 2024.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share