whittle definition | Dictionary.com

whit⋅tle

[hwit-l, wit-l]

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

Whit⋅tle

[hwit-l, wit-l]

–noun

Sir Frank, born 1907, English engineer and inventor.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Link To whittle

whit·tle (hwĭt'l, wĭt'l)

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.
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.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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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.

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.

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.

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.

Language Translation for : whittle

Spanish: tallar,

German: (zurecht)schnitzen,

Japanese: 削る

More Translations »

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.

Whittle (wĭt'l) Pronunciation Key
British aeronautical engineer and inventor who developed the first aircraft engine powered by jet propulsion in 1937.

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