Whittle
verb
To cut small bits or pare shavings from a piece of wood.
He starts to whittle a piece of wood into the shape of a bird.
Often appears as...
- whittle away
- whittle down
verb
To reduce something in size or amount, especially by taking small gradual actions.
She has managed to whittle her waist down to just 24 inches.
Often appears as...
- whittle away
- whittle down to
verb
To cut small bits or pare shavings from a piece of wood.
He starts to whittle a piece of wood into the shape of a bird.
Often appears as...
- whittle away
- whittle down
verb
To reduce something in size or amount, especially by taking small gradual actions.
She has managed to whittle her waist down to just 24 inches.
Often appears as...
- whittle away
- whittle down to
Definition 1 of 2
Pro Tip 1/3Hands-on Activity
Used when describing a precision handcraft, often in a relaxing or productive manner.
The skilled artisan would whittle away hours creating intricate sculptures.
Pro Tip 2/3Artistic Creation
Represents the act of creating or shaping something, especially in art or crafts.
With patience, she would whittle her block of wood into a smooth sculpture.
Pro Tip 3/3Gradual Process
It emphasizes a slow and careful process, not something done quickly.
He would often whittle figures from branches during his time in the cabin.
Compare with
carvechiselfashionparesculptshapeshavetrim
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Video examples
Amateur Photographers...
be guest editors for the creative designer I think I'm most looking forward to figuring out how we are going to whittle down some unbelievably good pictures down to what's going to make the final cut that's a good problem have I guess but it's a tough one feel bad when one goes by the wayside the assignment basically encompasses
Video examples
How to make faster...
is a massive waste of energy. You just need to move on. When it comes to no-stakes decisions, the key is to outsource them to the universe. For example, you can whittle down your choices to just two and then flip a coin. Or try my personal favorite -- ask the watch. Assign each one of your choices to one half of your watch,
Video examples
Mars Up Close, Part 2:...
to be able to look at those places and find out which ones are the most relevant for the kinds of things that you want to accomplish with your mission. So, we started with about 65 landing site candidates from our Science Laboratory, Curiosity. We whittled it down to the final four that you see here in white.
Video examples
Injured D.C. Snowy Owl...
insert so it kind of connects them in a pin like fashion and so what we use is bamboo bamboo is like the connector that connects the new feather to the shaft that remains on the bird and then we Whittle it so that it fits nice and snug in the feather shaft and then we glue it
Video examples
The tale of the doctor...
The doctor found himself in an immense cave lined with countless quivering candles, each representing the duration of a life. As punishment for his Godson’s foolish attempt to master mortality, Death whittled his candle down to its wick. Seeing his own dwindling light,
Video examples
Magical metals, how...
from the chair that you're sitting on to your cell phone. Atoms have some surprising ways of behaving too. We'll talk about that shortly. Now, how big is an atom? Well, imagine pulling one of your hairs out of your head and whittling it like a stick 100,000 times.
Video examples
Jonathan Harris: The web...
And we could do something as arbitrary as, say, extract the story of Rony, involving the concepts of blood and whales and tools, taking place on the Arctic Ocean, at Ahkivgaq camp, with the heartbeat level of fast. And now we've whittled down that whole story
Video examples
Introducing a New Baby...
very easy to see I'll notice a change where here you might have a graduate gradual drying out or gradual whittling but you would need to take a lot longer time to really see and look at some very
Video examples
How to defeat a dragon...
PEMDAS, there is another spot! Don't forget, there can be parentheses inside parentheses. There's one! And that tricky exponent. There we go! Finally, the PEMDAS Musketeers had whittled Puff
Video examples
Custer's Custard & other...
the mother lode this will put me in the record books of metal detecting start whittling it out of a hole and there it is it's not a sword it is a
Video examples
Amateur Photographers...
be guest editors for the creative designer I think I'm most looking forward to figuring out how we are going to whittle down some unbelievably good pictures down to what's going to make the final cut that's a good problem have I guess but it's a tough one feel bad when one goes by the wayside the assignment basically encompasses
Video examples
How to make faster...
is a massive waste of energy. You just need to move on. When it comes to no-stakes decisions, the key is to outsource them to the universe. For example, you can whittle down your choices to just two and then flip a coin. Or try my personal favorite -- ask the watch. Assign each one of your choices to one half of your watch,
Video examples
Mars Up Close, Part 2:...
to be able to look at those places and find out which ones are the most relevant for the kinds of things that you want to accomplish with your mission. So, we started with about 65 landing site candidates from our Science Laboratory, Curiosity. We whittled it down to the final four that you see here in white.
Video examples
Injured D.C. Snowy Owl...
insert so it kind of connects them in a pin like fashion and so what we use is bamboo bamboo is like the connector that connects the new feather to the shaft that remains on the bird and then we Whittle it so that it fits nice and snug in the feather shaft and then we glue it
Video examples
The tale of the doctor...
The doctor found himself in an immense cave lined with countless quivering candles, each representing the duration of a life. As punishment for his Godson’s foolish attempt to master mortality, Death whittled his candle down to its wick. Seeing his own dwindling light,
Video examples
Magical metals, how...
from the chair that you're sitting on to your cell phone. Atoms have some surprising ways of behaving too. We'll talk about that shortly. Now, how big is an atom? Well, imagine pulling one of your hairs out of your head and whittling it like a stick 100,000 times.
Video examples
Jonathan Harris: The web...
And we could do something as arbitrary as, say, extract the story of Rony, involving the concepts of blood and whales and tools, taking place on the Arctic Ocean, at Ahkivgaq camp, with the heartbeat level of fast. And now we've whittled down that whole story
Video examples
Introducing a New Baby...
very easy to see I'll notice a change where here you might have a graduate gradual drying out or gradual whittling but you would need to take a lot longer time to really see and look at some very
Video examples
How to defeat a dragon...
PEMDAS, there is another spot! Don't forget, there can be parentheses inside parentheses. There's one! And that tricky exponent. There we go! Finally, the PEMDAS Musketeers had whittled Puff
Video examples
Custer's Custard & other...
the mother lode this will put me in the record books of metal detecting start whittling it out of a hole and there it is it's not a sword it is a
Example 1 of 10
Quote examples
Billy Campbell
American Actor
A great deal of my battle, as an actor, is to whittle away the things that make me self-conscious and try to trick myself into not being self-conscious. So, it's always a challenge, whether I'm lying in a hospital bed or flying around with a rocket pack on my back, or what have you. On the best of days, it's a challenge for me.
Quote examples
Nicholas Kristof
American Journalist
Most moms and dads, they want to be good moms and dads. But it's an incredibly hard job when you are stressed out, when you are poor, when your life is in chaos. And giving them some of the tools to be better parents, to whittle away at that parenting gap, gives those kids a much better starting point in life.
Quote examples
Erwin McManus
American Author
One trend I see is the rejection of growth for self-discovery and the pursuit of authentic community. So we keep whittling our spiritual community to a smaller and smaller and more exclusive inner circle. The problem is if the diagnoses are wrong, so will be the cure.
Quote examples
Alexandra Patsavas
American Musician
In the old days, a TV sync was perceived as not so cool or whittling away at your indie cred. Now it's seen as much more of an opportunity than a sellout, as a way to find fans who wouldn't have ordinarily come across their genre of music.
Quote examples
Gauri Khan
Indian Producer
I've tried my hand at everything... trying to whittle down the right profession for myself. I tried my hand at clothes, I've modelled, but nothing really worked for me. I didn't really enjoy it, and maybe I was not really good enough.
Quote examples
Sarah Dessen
American Writer
I think part of the problem sometimes is that there's so much happening in my books, to whittle it down into a single script is hard.
Quote examples
Phoebe Fox
People just need to go back to the ancient crafts. We should teach people to do whittling at school, or knitting.
Quote examples
Mandy Ingber
American Actress
Twists are wonderful for whittling your waist, stretching your back, and detoxifying the body.
Quote examples
Charles M. Schwab
American Businessman
A man who trims himself to suit everybody will soon whittle himself away.
Quote examples
Raymond Hull
Canadian Playwright
He who trims himself to suit everyone will soon whittle himself away.
Quote examples
Billy Campbell
American Actor
A great deal of my battle, as an actor, is to whittle away the things that make me self-conscious and try to trick myself into not being self-conscious. So, it's always a challenge, whether I'm lying in a hospital bed or flying around with a rocket pack on my back, or what have you. On the best of days, it's a challenge for me.
Quote examples
Nicholas Kristof
American Journalist
Most moms and dads, they want to be good moms and dads. But it's an incredibly hard job when you are stressed out, when you are poor, when your life is in chaos. And giving them some of the tools to be better parents, to whittle away at that parenting gap, gives those kids a much better starting point in life.
Quote examples
Erwin McManus
American Author
One trend I see is the rejection of growth for self-discovery and the pursuit of authentic community. So we keep whittling our spiritual community to a smaller and smaller and more exclusive inner circle. The problem is if the diagnoses are wrong, so will be the cure.
Quote examples
Alexandra Patsavas
American Musician
In the old days, a TV sync was perceived as not so cool or whittling away at your indie cred. Now it's seen as much more of an opportunity than a sellout, as a way to find fans who wouldn't have ordinarily come across their genre of music.
Quote examples
Gauri Khan
Indian Producer
I've tried my hand at everything... trying to whittle down the right profession for myself. I tried my hand at clothes, I've modelled, but nothing really worked for me. I didn't really enjoy it, and maybe I was not really good enough.
Quote examples
Sarah Dessen
American Writer
I think part of the problem sometimes is that there's so much happening in my books, to whittle it down into a single script is hard.
Quote examples
Phoebe Fox
People just need to go back to the ancient crafts. We should teach people to do whittling at school, or knitting.
Quote examples
Mandy Ingber
American Actress
Twists are wonderful for whittling your waist, stretching your back, and detoxifying the body.
Quote examples
Charles M. Schwab
American Businessman
A man who trims himself to suit everybody will soon whittle himself away.
Quote examples
Raymond Hull
Canadian Playwright
He who trims himself to suit everyone will soon whittle himself away.
Example 1 of 10
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