whittle

[ hwit-l, wit-l ]
See synonyms for whittle on Thesaurus.com
verb (used with object),whit·tled, whit·tling.
  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.

  1. to cut off (a bit).

  2. to reduce the amount of, as if by whittling; pare down; take away by degrees (usually followed by down, away, etc.): to whittle down the company's overhead; to whittle away one's inheritance.

verb (used without object),whit·tled, whit·tling.
  1. to whittle wood or the like with a knife, as in shaping something or as a mere aimless diversion: to spend an afternoon whittling.

  2. to tire oneself or another by worrying or fussing.

noun
  1. British Dialect. a knife, especially a large one, as a carving knife or a butcher knife.

Origin of whittle

1
1375–1425; late Middle English (noun), dialectal variant of thwitel knife, Old English thwīt(an) to cut + -el-le

Other words from whittle

  • whittler, noun

Words Nearby whittle

Other definitions for Whittle (2 of 2)

Whittle
[ hwit-l, wit-l ]

noun
  1. Sir Frank, 1907–96, English engineer and inventor.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use whittle in a sentence

  • Wal, Capm, fust thing is to fish up a bit 'f driftwood 'n' whittle out 'nother paddle.

    Overland | John William De Forest
  • He'd sit with his cigar tilted up in one corner of his mouth, and his hat tilted forward, and whittle sticks.

    The Belted Seas | Arthur Colton
  • Anyone can whittle these little sticks out, using any kind of hard wood.

  • The other picked up a pine splinter from the wharf, and producing a knife, began to whittle it.

    The Viking Blood | Frederick William Wallace
  • Lawyer whittle was fined two pecks of apples and cigars for wearing a stovepipe hat and so the fun went on, day after day.

British Dictionary definitions for whittle (1 of 2)

whittle

/ (ˈwɪtəl) /


verb
  1. to cut or shave strips or pieces from (wood, a stick, etc), esp with a knife

  2. (tr) to make or shape by paring or shaving

  1. (tr; often foll by away, down, off, etc) to reduce, destroy, or wear away gradually

  2. Northern English dialect (intr) to complain or worry about something continually

noun
  1. British dialect a knife, esp a large one

Origin of whittle

1
C16: variant of C15 thwittle large knife, from Old English thwitel, from thwītan to cut; related to Old Norse thveitr cut, thveita to beat

Derived forms of whittle

  • whittler, noun

British Dictionary definitions for Whittle (2 of 2)

Whittle

/ (ˈwɪtəl) /


noun
  1. Sir Frank. 1907–96, English engineer, who invented the jet engine for aircraft; flew first British jet aircraft (1941)

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for Whittle

Whittle

[ wĭtl ]


  1. British aeronautical engineer and inventor who developed the first aircraft engine powered by jet propulsion in 1937.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.