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to whittle
01
to carve or shape small pieces from a material, usually wood, using a knife or similar tool
Transitive: to whittle an object or shape | to whittle a piece of wood into an object or shape
Examples
The grandfather whittled a small figurine from a block of wood.
He whittled a pointed stick for roasting marshmallows over the fire.
02
to gradually reduce something in size or number
Transitive: to whittle size or number of something
Examples
To save space, she decides to whittle her collection of ornaments.
While studying, she whittled her notes into a concise summary.
Lexical Tree
whittler
whittle
