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whittle

 - 5 dictionary results

whit⋅tle

  [hwit-l, wit-l] verb, -tled, -tling, noun
Use whittle in a Sentence
–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.
Cite This Source 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.

  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.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Word Origin & History

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
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Science Dictionary
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. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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