as in to cut
to cause to diminish gradually by or as if by cutting off bits with a knife
He was sitting on the porch, whittling a stick.
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of whittle
What's next: The James Beard Foundation will whittle this list down to nominees, which will be announced April 2.
—
Chelsea Brasted, Axios, 22 Jan. 2025
The submissions process found 85 of the 89 films presented eligible, but the real work starts now, in terms of whittling those down first to a shortlist of 15 and then to the final five.
—Damon Wise, Deadline, 7 Dec. 2024
The annual Caribbean Series club tournament finishes up the preliminary round on Tuesday with a pair of games, after which the field will be whittled from five teams down to four.
—Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Newsweek, 5 Feb. 2025
The Rays started the arbitration process with 12 eligible players but whittled that group to five.
—Marc Topkin, Orlando Sentinel, 10 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for whittle
Chelsea Brasted, Axios, 22 Jan. 2025
The submissions process found 85 of the 89 films presented eligible, but the real work starts now, in terms of whittling those down first to a shortlist of 15 and then to the final five.
—Damon Wise, Deadline, 7 Dec. 2024
The annual Caribbean Series club tournament finishes up the preliminary round on Tuesday with a pair of games, after which the field will be whittled from five teams down to four.
—Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Newsweek, 5 Feb. 2025
The Rays started the arbitration process with 12 eligible players but whittled that group to five.
—Marc Topkin, Orlando Sentinel, 10 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for whittle
Recent Examples of Synonyms for whittle
Verb
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Within the scheme’s first week, traffic had fallen by 7.5%, with 273,000 fewer cars entering Manhattan’s central business district, and travel times on inbound river crossings had been cut by more than a third, leading to faster bus journeys.—
Laurie Winkless,
Forbes,
12 Mar. 2025
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How about water: The Trump administration is cutting about 10% of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation’s California staff.—
Sammy Roth,
Los Angeles Times,
11 Mar. 2025
Verb
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The danger was obvious at Villa Park, but Justin did a better job of heading the danger away against Wolverhampton Wanderers at King Power Stadium just before Christmas… … until Wolves gathered up the second ball and Nelson Semedo clipped another high ball back into the box.—
Rob Tanner,
The Athletic,
14 Mar. 2025
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Also new for the season are leather goods, which range from sunglass carriers to pencil cases, all with the same D-shaped ring that allows them to be clipped onto a lanyard — for the sake of practicality as much as safety on the go.—
Lily Templeton,
WWD,
12 Mar. 2025
Verb
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This is the bottom-up part of President Trump’s effort -- led by Elon Musk and DOGE -- to pare back the federal workforce and the administrative state.—
Andrew C. McCarthy,
National Review,
14 Mar. 2025
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Stock market futures pared losses following the report while Treasury yields remained higher.—
Jeff Cox,
CNBC,
13 Mar. 2025
Verb
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Expand All Opponents to the idea of splitting the Keller school district celebrated the news Friday that the board was dropping the matter, but some vowed to continue pushing for transparency or unseating the members behind the proposal.—
Elizabeth Campbell,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
15 Mar. 2025
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Shares of the Uggs boots maker have fallen for seven consecutive weeks, dropping more than 6% in the latest five days.—
Sean Conlon,
CNBC,
15 Mar. 2025
Verb
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The Legislature has been trying to curtail that practice ever since, saying that outside special interests with money have corrupted the process.—
Jeffrey Schweers,
Orlando Sentinel,
16 Mar. 2025
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The specialized data training that followed the initial development of the generative AI app is supposed to curtail that type of untoward activity.—
Lance Eliot,
Forbes,
15 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Whittle.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/whittle. Accessed 25 Mar. 2025.
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