Dictionary
Thesaurus
Reference
Translate
Web
whittle
10 dictionary results for: Whittle
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
whit·tle       [hwit-l, wit-l] Pronunciation Key verb, -tled, -tling, noun
–verb (used with object)
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 of, as if by whittling; pare down; take away by degrees (usually fol. by down, away, etc.): to whittle down the company's overhead; to whittle away one's inheritance.
–verb (used without object)
5.to whittle wood or the like with a knife, as in shaping something or as a mere aimless diversion: to spend an afternoon whittling.
6.to tire oneself or another by worrying or fussing.
–noun
7.British Dialect. a knife, esp. a large one, as a carving knife or a butcher knife.
[Origin: 1375–1425; late ME (n.), dial. var. of thwitel knife, OE thwīt(an) to cut + -el -le]

—Related forms
whittler, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
CITE THIS SOURCE|PRINT
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
Whit·tle       [hwit-l, wit-l] Pronunciation Key
–noun
Sir Frank, born 1907, English engineer and inventor.
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
CITE THIS SOURCE|PRINT
American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
whit·tle       (hwĭt'l, wĭt'l)  Pronunciation Key 
v.   whit·tled, whit·tling, whit·tles

v.   tr.
    1. To cut small bits or pare shavings from (a piece of wood).
    2. To fashion or shape in this way: whittle a toy boat.
  2. To reduce or eliminate gradually, as if by whittling with a knife: whittled down the debt by making small payments.

v.   intr.
To cut or shape wood with a knife.


[From Middle English whyttel, knife, variant of thwitel, from thwiten, to whittle, from Old English thwītan, to strike, whittle down.]

whit'tler n.
(Download Now or Buy the Book)
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
CITE THIS SOURCE|PRINT
Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
whittle 
1552, "to cut thin shavings from (something) with a knife," from M.E. whittel "a knife" (1404), variant of thwittle (1390), from O.E. þwitan "to cut," from P.Gmc. *thwitanan (cf. O.N. þveita "to hew"). Fig. sense is attested from 1746.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
CITE THIS SOURCE|PRINT
WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This
whittle

noun
1. English aeronautical engineer who invented the jet aircraft engine (1907-1996) 

verb
1. cut small bits or pare shavings from; "whittle a piece of wood" 

WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
CITE THIS SOURCE|PRINT
The American Heritage Science Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
Whittle       (wĭt'l)  Pronunciation Key 
British aeronautical engineer and inventor who developed the first aircraft engine powered by jet propulsion in 1937.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
CITE THIS SOURCE|PRINT
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Whittle

Whit"tle\, n. [AS. hw[=i]tel, from hwit white; akin to Icel. hv[=i]till a white bed cover. See White.] (a) A grayish, coarse double blanket worn by countrywomen, in the west of England, over the shoulders, like a cloak or shawl. --C. Kingsley. (b) Same as Whittle shawl, below.

Whittle shawl, a kind of fine woolen shawl, originally and especially a white one.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
CITE THIS SOURCE|PRINT
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Whittle

Whit"tle\, n. [OE. thwitel, fr. AS. pw[=i]tan to cut. Cf. Thwittle, Thwaite a piece of ground.] A knife; esp., a pocket, sheath, or clasp knife. "A butcher's whittle." --Dryden. "Rude whittles." -- Macaulay.

He wore a Sheffield whittle in his hose. --Betterton.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
CITE THIS SOURCE|PRINT
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Whittle

Whit"tle\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Whittled; p. pr. & vb. n. Whittling.]

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.

2. To edge; to sharpen; to render eager or excited; esp., to excite with liquor; to inebriate. [Obs.]

"In vino veritas." When men are well whittled, their tongues run at random. --Withals.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
CITE THIS SOURCE|PRINT
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

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.

Dexterity with a pocketknife is a part of a Nantucket education; but I am inclined to think the propensity is national. Americans must and will whittle. --Willis.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
CITE THIS SOURCE|PRINT
Share This:Share This: digg.comShare This: ma.gnolia.comShare This: www.stumbleupon.comShare This: del.icio.usShare This: FacebookShare This: favorites.live.comShare This: www.technorati.comShare This: furl.netShare This: myweb2.search.yahoo.comShare This: www.google.com