whittle something away
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whittle something away/down — reduce something by degrees. → whittle … English new terms dictionary
whittle something down — whittle (something) down to gradually reduce or destroy something. By halftime our team s lead had been whittled down to only two points. College is so expensive, after two years, my college fund has been whittled away to almost nothing. Usage… … New idioms dictionary
whittle away — verb cut away in small pieces • Syn: ↑whittle down, ↑wear away • Hypernyms: ↑damage • Verb Frames: Somebody s something Something s something * * * ˌ … Useful english dictionary
whittle — verb 1》 carve (wood) by repeatedly cutting small slices from it. ↘make by whittling. 2》 (whittle something away/down) reduce something by degrees. Origin C16: from dialect whittle knife … English new terms dictionary
whittle down — whittle (something) down to gradually reduce or destroy something. By halftime our team s lead had been whittled down to only two points. College is so expensive, after two years, my college fund has been whittled away to almost nothing. Usage… … New idioms dictionary
whittle down — verb cut away in small pieces • Syn: ↑whittle away, ↑wear away • Hypernyms: ↑damage • Verb Frames: Somebody s something Something s something * * * ˌ … Useful english dictionary
whittle — verb (I, T) to cut a piece of wood into a particular shape by cutting off small pieces with a small knife whittle sth away phrasal verb (T) to gradually reduce the amount or value of something: centralizing measures that had whittled away the… … Longman dictionary of contemporary English
whittle — [[t](h)wɪ̱t(ə)l[/t]] whittles, whittling, whittled VERB If you whittle something from a piece of wood, you carve it by cutting pieces off the wood with a knife. [V n] He whittled a new handle for his ax... [V n] Chitty sat in his rocking chair… … English dictionary
whittle — whit|tle [ˈwıtl] v [Date: 1500 1600; Origin: whittle large knife (15 19 centuries), from thwittle (14 19 centuries), from thwite to whittle (11 19 centuries), from Old English thwitan] 1.) also whittle down [T] to gradually make something smaller … Dictionary of contemporary English
whittle away — phrasal verb [intransitive/transitive] Word forms whittle away : present tense I/you/we/they whittle away he/she/it whittles away present participle whittling away past tense whittled away past participle whittled away to gradually reduce the… … English dictionary
