Meaning & use
whittled
Last updated
Carved or shaped wood by slicing small pieces from it with a knife.
See it in a sentence
He whittled a small wooden bird while sitting by the campfire.
The company whittled its workforce down to just twenty employees.
A note on using this word
Whittled is very often paired with 'down' or 'away' in a figurative sense meaning to gradually reduce something.
Words with a similar meaning
carvedshaved
Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.
Another way to use it
2. verb
To gradually reduce or wear something down over time.
Years of debt whittled away their savings.
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