verb
- to cut or shape wood by removing small pieces with a knife
- to reduce something gradually in size or amount
Usage: often used with ‘down’ or ‘away’
Examples
- He whittled a small bird from a piece of oak.
- The old man sat on the porch whittling a stick.
- She whittled down the list of candidates to five finalists.
- Rising costs have whittled away their savings.
- The company whittled its workforce by twenty percent.
- He whittled the wooden figure with careful precision.
- Budget cuts whittled down the program’s funding.