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   whittle

   /ˈwɪtl/

   verb

   • 1. carve (wood) into an object by repeatedly cutting small slices from it: "he was sitting at the tent door, whittling a piece of wood with a knife" Similar pareshavepeelcuthewtrimcarveshapemodel
   • ▪ carve (an object) from wood: "a set of chess pieces he had whittled himself"
   • 2. reduce something in size, amount, or extent by a gradual series of steps: "the shortlist of fifteen was whittled down to five" Similar erodewear awayeat awayconsumeuse upreducediminishundermineweakenthreatensabotagesubvertcompromisedestroyimpairmarspoilruinimpedehinderdamagehurtinjurecrippledisableenfeebleemasculatesapshakebreakcrushreducecut downcut backcutprunetrimslim downpare downsalami-sliceshrinkmake cutbacks inlessendecreasediminishmake reductions inscale downOpposite increaseaugment

   Word Origin mid 16th century: from dialect whittle ‘knife’.

   Derivatives

   • 1. whittler noun

   Scrabble Points: 13

   • W

     4

   • H

     4

   • I

     1

   • T

     1

   • T

     1

   • L

     1

   • E

     1

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