whittle down
phrasal verb
whittled down; whittling down; whittles down
: to gradually make (something) smaller by removing parts
We whittled the list down to four people.
Examples of whittle down in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The vast majority of those named on the witness list – which is used to help attorneys and the court whittle down the jury pool – will not be called to testify.
—
Cnn.com Wire Service, The Mercury News, 15 May 2024
Some guests had to make subsequent attempts to visit but found that wait times this week had whittled down to 20 to 40 minutes since the first Saturday of business.
—Stephanie Breijo, Los Angeles Times, 13 May 2024
Forbes used 2022 admissions data, and then screened schools with high standardized test scores to whittle down a list of 1,743 colleges of at least 4,000 students to create its top 10 list.
—Alex Groth, Journal Sentinel, 8 May 2024
The remaining people were whittled down through questioning from lawyers and Merchan.
—Graham Kates, CBS News, 18 Apr. 2024
Fans, genre advisory boards and music business professionals (including Chuck D. and Jason Moran) submit considerations, with the latter two whittling down the list to 50; Hayden then selects the final 25.
—David Browne, Rolling Stone, 16 Apr. 2024
The show, which has currently whittled down its competition of aspiring artists to the top 24, will run until Sunday, May 19.
—Sadie Bell, Peoplemag, 8 Apr. 2024
Reaching Augusta is an enormous feat; there are three qualifiers, with the final fields whittled down to a mere 10 for each age category.
—Tod Leonard, San Diego Union-Tribune, 4 Apr. 2024
Lloyd whittled down to a seven-player core that arguably wore down last season, losing three times in its final six regular-season games and getting bounced in the first round of the NCAA Tournament loss by Princeton.
—Bruce Pascoe, The Arizona Republic, 12 Jan. 2024
Cnn.com Wire Service, The Mercury News, 15 May 2024
Some guests had to make subsequent attempts to visit but found that wait times this week had whittled down to 20 to 40 minutes since the first Saturday of business.
—Stephanie Breijo, Los Angeles Times, 13 May 2024
Forbes used 2022 admissions data, and then screened schools with high standardized test scores to whittle down a list of 1,743 colleges of at least 4,000 students to create its top 10 list.
—Alex Groth, Journal Sentinel, 8 May 2024
The remaining people were whittled down through questioning from lawyers and Merchan.
—Graham Kates, CBS News, 18 Apr. 2024
Fans, genre advisory boards and music business professionals (including Chuck D. and Jason Moran) submit considerations, with the latter two whittling down the list to 50; Hayden then selects the final 25.
—David Browne, Rolling Stone, 16 Apr. 2024
The show, which has currently whittled down its competition of aspiring artists to the top 24, will run until Sunday, May 19.
—Sadie Bell, Peoplemag, 8 Apr. 2024
Reaching Augusta is an enormous feat; there are three qualifiers, with the final fields whittled down to a mere 10 for each age category.
—Tod Leonard, San Diego Union-Tribune, 4 Apr. 2024
Lloyd whittled down to a seven-player core that arguably wore down last season, losing three times in its final six regular-season games and getting bounced in the first round of the NCAA Tournament loss by Princeton.
—Bruce Pascoe, The Arizona Republic, 12 Jan. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'whittle down.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Whittle down.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/whittle%20down. Accessed 28 May. 2024.
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