to whittle at a piece of wood

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• whittle — v. 1) (D; intr.) to whittle at (to whittle at a piece of wood) 2) (D; tr.) to whittle into (to whittle a reed into a whistle) 3) (D; tr.) to whittle out of (to whittle a whistle out of a reed) * * * [ wɪtl] (D; tr.) to whittle into (to whittle a… …   Combinatory dictionary

• Whittle — Whit tle, v. i. To cut or shape a piece of wood with am small knife; to cut up a piece of wood with a knife. [1913 Webster] Dexterity with a pocketknife is a part of a Nantucket education; but I am inclined to think the propensity is national.… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

• whittle something down — whittle (something) down to gradually reduce or destroy something. By halftime our team s lead had been whittled down to only two points. College is so expensive, after two years, my college fund has been whittled away to almost nothing. Usage… …   New idioms dictionary

• whittle down — whittle (something) down to gradually reduce or destroy something. By halftime our team s lead had been whittled down to only two points. College is so expensive, after two years, my college fund has been whittled away to almost nothing. Usage… …   New idioms dictionary

• Whittle — Whit tle, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Whittled}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Whittling}.] [1913 Webster] 1. To pare or cut off the surface of with a small knife; to cut or shape, as a piece of wood held in the hand, with a clasp knife or pocketknife. [1913… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

• whittle — [[t](h)wɪ̱t(ə)l[/t]] whittles, whittling, whittled VERB If you whittle something from a piece of wood, you carve it by cutting pieces off the wood with a knife. [V n] He whittled a new handle for his ax... [V n] Chitty sat in his rocking chair… …   English dictionary

• whittle — whittler, n. /hwit l, wit l/, v., whittled, whittling, n. v.t. 1. to cut, trim, or shape (a stick, piece of wood, etc.) by carving off bits with a knife. 2. to form by whittling: to whittle a figure. 3. to cut off (a bit). 4. to reduce the amount …   Universalium

• whittle — [c]/ˈwɪtl / (say witl) verb (whittled, whittling) –verb (t) 1. to cut, trim, or shape (a stick, piece of wood, etc.) by taking off bits with a knife. 2. to cut off (a bit or bits). –verb (i) 3. to cut bits or chips from wood or the like with a… …  

• whittle — whit|tle [ˈwıtl] v [Date: 1500 1600; Origin: whittle large knife (15 19 centuries), from thwittle (14 19 centuries), from thwite to whittle (11 19 centuries), from Old English thwitan] 1.) also whittle down [T] to gradually make something smaller …   Dictionary of contemporary English

• whittle — whit•tle [[t]ˈ(h)wɪt l, ˈwɪt l[/t]] v. tled, tling, n. 1) to cut, trim, or shape (a piece of wood or the like) by carving off bits with a knife 2) to form by whittling 3) to cut off (a bit) 4) to reduce the amount of gradually (usu. fol. by down …   From formal English to slang

• whittle — verb (I, T) to cut a piece of wood into a particular shape by cutting off small pieces with a small knife whittle sth away phrasal verb (T) to gradually reduce the amount or value of something: centralizing measures that had whittled away the… …   Longman dictionary of contemporary English