Examples of whittle in a Sentence
Kathryn Sheldon, Sacramento Bee, 31 Mar. 2024
Knowing full well that a 216-page was unlikely to be produced as one movie, the Rebel Moon creative team whittled their script down to around 138 pages, but Snyder ultimately made the call to return to the longer script.
—Brian Davids, The Hollywood Reporter, 28 Dec. 2023
After jury instructions are read Monday, Matthews will remove five alternate jurors to whittle the final jury down to 12.
—Gina Kaufman, Detroit Free Press, 5 Feb. 2024
After graduating from Columbia, Mr. Predock traveled through Europe on a fellowship, carrying India ink and paper and whittling twigs or Popsicle sticks into drawing instruments.
—Fred A. Bernstein, New York Times, 5 Mar. 2024
The Mets signed center fielder Harrison Bader to a one-year, $10.5-million contract and the Mariners have spent the offseason whittling salary.
—Steve Henson, Los Angeles Times, 25 Feb. 2024
The Titans saw their 12-point lead whittled to three this time when the Mustangs got within 52-49 with 1:50 left.
—Staff and News Service Reports, Orange County Register, 27 Jan. 2024
But the Pistons went cold, and Houston whittled the lead down again, outscoring Detroit 12-4 at the end of the quarter to cut it to three, 91-88.
—Omari Sankofa Ii, Detroit Free Press, 13 Jan. 2024
But after requiring an initial three-year commitment from interested owners, the league whittled it down to six clubs: one each in three of the country’s biggest cities — Mexico City, Guadalajara, Monterrey — plus in León, Tabasco and Veracruz.
—James Wagner Marian Carrasquero, New York Times, 25 Feb. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'whittle.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Noun
Middle English whittel, alteration of thwitel, from thwiten to whittle, from Old English thwītan; akin to Old Norse thveita to hew
Noun
15th century, in the meaning defined above
Verb
1552, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1a
Phrases Containing whittle
Dictionary Entries Near whittle
Cite this Entry
“Whittle.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/whittle. Accessed 16 Apr. 2024.
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whittle
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