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

When the trial finally did begin, the number of co-defendants had been whittled down to six. —Ashley Oliver, Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government, 13 June 2024

More than 150 restaurants were nominated and that number was whittled down to 47. —Amanda Hancock, The Courier-Journal, 12 June 2024

Instead, Moreno struggled for weeks to break away from the pack and whittle down a plurality of undecided voters that dominated most polls. —Jessie Balmert, The Enquirer, 19 Mar. 2024

As a result, even under the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), which in recent years has whittled down the generals’ influence, the military has enjoyed considerable independence. —Gonul Tol, Foreign Affairs, 27 Oct. 2016

Bond market jitters Of particular concern, according to analysts, is how a potentially very different parliament would affect France’s ability to whittle down its huge government debt burden, which stood at 110.6% of gross domestic product at the end of last year. —Anna Cooban, CNN, 10 June 2024

Subsequent governments in New Delhi, including those of Nehru, effectively whittled down the provisions of Article 370, applying various elements of the Indian constitution to Jammu and Kashmir. —Sumit Ganguly, Foreign Affairs, 8 Aug. 2019

The campaign supporting Logan comes as the candidate field has been whittled down this spring to him and two longtime firefighters from outside the department. —David Garrick, San Diego Union-Tribune, 30 May 2024

Over the next 2:21, Century continued to whittle down the lead, eventually getting a Tommy Dixon layup to cut the margin to 45-44 with 2:21 left. —Mike Frainie, Baltimore Sun, 17 Feb. 2024