| 释义 |
▪ I. whittle, n.1 Now dial.|ˈhwɪt(ə)l|
Forms: 1–3 hwitel, 4 whitel, wytel, 5 wytele, 6 whittel, 7– whittle.
[OE. hwítel, corresp. to ON. hvítill white bed-cover (Norw. kvitel blanket); f. hwít white a. + -el1, -le.]
†a. A cloak, mantle.
†b. A blanket.
c. A baby's woollen napkin or flannel petticoat.
d. A shawl or wrap.
c900tr. Bæda's Hist. iv. xxxi, Ða eode þes broðor sume dæᵹe þæt he wolde his reon & his hwitlas [saga]..in sæ wæscan. c1000ælfric Gen. ix. 23 Sem and Iafeth dydon anne hwitel [pallium] on hira sculdra. a1225Ancr. R. 214 Boðe schulen beon of wurmes his kurtel [v.r. hwitel] & his kuuertur. a1300Walter of Henley's Husb. (1890) 4 Wo þat strechet forþerre þan his wytel wyle reche in þe straue his fet he mot streche. 1393Langl. P. Pl. C. xvii. 76 When he streyneþ hym to strecche, þe straw is hus whitel. 1422Will of Olney (Somerset Ho.), j wytele & j chete. 1565Cooper Thesaurus, Crepundia,..the first apparayle of children, as, swathes, whittels, wastecoates, and such lyke. 1668in Alice M. Earle Costume Colon. Times (1894) 257 A whittle that was fringed. 1697in C. Worthy Devon. Wills (1896) 214 To sister, Rachel Tucker, my largest red whittle. 1700J. Brome Trav. Eng. 234 The [Devonshire] Women have a peculiar sort of Garment, which they wear upon their Shoulders, called Whittles, they are like Mantles with fringes about the edges. 1755Connoisseur No. 80. ⁋7 As great a store of caps, clouts, biggens, belly-bands, whittles, and all kinds of childbed-linnen, as would set up a Lying-in Hospital. 1850Smedley F. Fairlegh xiv, I sought out the..old lady, whose shawl I had so unceremoniously made use of [to extinguish fire]... I believe..she considered Miss Saville's safety dearly purchased at the expense of her favourite whittle. 1871Mrs. H. Wood Dene Hollow xxiv, In a coarse red shawl—or, as it was called then, ‘whittle’,..Emma Geash started.
▪ II. whittle, n.2 Now dial.|ˈhwɪt(ə)l|
Forms: 4 qwetyll, 5 whyttel, 6 whittell, Sc. quhittil, 7 whitle, 6– whittle.
[Variant of thwittle; cf. whack, whang.]
A knife, esp. one of a large size, as a carving-knife, a butcher's knife, or one carried as a weapon; also, a clasp-knife.
1404Nottingham Rec. II. 22, j. whyttel, j d. 14..Stockholm Med. MS. i. 446 in Anglia XVIII. 306 Schrape of þe ouerest bark with a qwetyll. 1515Barclay Egloges iii. (1570) B vj/1 The scullians..Came some with whittels, some other with fleshhokes. 1570[see quot. 1470 s.v. thwittle n.]. a1586Sidney Arcadia iii. (1912) 434 He thought best..with a great whittle he had..to cut his throate, which he had used so with Calves, as he had no small dexteritie in it. 1592Greene Greene's Vis. Wks. (Grosart) XII. 209 A whittell by his belt he beare. 1608Wingfield Disc. Virg. in Archæol. Amer. IV. 99 No penny whitle was asked of me, but a kniffe, whereof I had none to spare. 1653Gataker Vind. Annot. Jer. 136 We shall not need to borrow great Alexanders whiniard to cut this Gordian knot asunder, any sory whittle will serve the turn. 1668Dryden Even. Love iv. (1671) 70 Here's the sixpenny whittle you gave me, with the Mutton haft: I can spare it, for knives are of little use in Spain. 1724Ramsay Tea-t. Misc. (1733) II. 181 A rousty whittle to sheer the kail. 1806Gazetteer Scot. (ed. 2) 294 The knives [of Kilmaurs] were so much famed, that a Kilmaur's [sic] whittle became proverbial. 1821Scott Kenilw. xxvii, Beshrew me,..but thou art sharper than a Sheffield whittle! [Cf. quot. c 1386 s.v. thwittle n.] 1841T. Parker Crit. & Misc. Writ. v. (1848) 117 He wears a beaver hat, and a coat of English cloth, and has a Birmingham whittle, and a watch in his pocket. 1853G. J. Cayley Las Alforjas I. 61 In the fingers of his right [hand] was a crooked whittle, with which..as the basketfuls arrived, he would nick the score upon notch-sticks.
b. Comb.: whittle-gait (-gate), see quot. 1804; whittle-knife, a whittle.
1804R. Anderson Cumbld. Ball. (1805) 144 In some parts of Cumberland..he not only receives quarter-pence, but is provided with victuals at the homes of his scholars, which he visits in succession. This *whittle-gait (as it is called) subjects him however to the toil of travelling. 1825Brockett N.C. Gloss. s.v., ‘An harden sark, a guse grassing, and a whittle gait’, were all the salary of a clergyman, not many years ago, in Cumberland.
1735Phil. Trans. XXXIX. 76 The *Whittle-Knife, with the Box-Handle. a1811Leyden Malay Annals (1821) 54 In his hand was a whittle knife without the haft.
▪ III. whittle, n.3 Sc. and north. dial.
Also 6–7 whittell, 9 Sc. whuttle.
Reduced form of whitlow. Also † whittle-flaw = whitflaw (see whitlow); whittle-grass, melilot (cf. whitlow-grass).
1596J. Melvill Autob. & Diary (Wodrow Soc.) 366 We feill mair a whittell in our fingar nor the helthe of the haill body. 1756C. Lucas Ess. Waters II. 66 Sea-water..relieves whittle-flaws before they exulcerate. 1774Maclaurin Argts. & Decis. 94 A distemper incident to the thumb, vulgarly called the whittle. 1825Jamieson, Whuttle-grass.
▪ IV. † ˈwhittle, v.1 Obs.
Also 6 whittel, whyttel(l, whityll, 6–7 whitle.
[Usually taken to be a fig. use of next (cf. whet v. 6), but evidence is wanting.]
trans. To ply with drink, to make drunk, intoxicate; in pa. pple. excited by drink, drunk, intoxicated. Hence whittled ppl. a., whittling vbl. n.
1530Palsgr. 500 Whan he is well whyttelled, he wyll crake goodly of his manhode, quant il a bien beu [etc.]. Ibid. 844 Well whytled, nere dronken. 1543Becon Invective agst. Swearing 24 Whan they are once set vpon the ale benche, and well whytled in theyr braynes thorow the many cuppes that haue bene fylled in. c1566Merie Tales of Skelton in Wks. 1843 I. p. lxiii, Skelton did fill all the cuppes..and whitled the frere. 1593G. Harvey Pierce's Super. 44 What? gorge vpon gorge, egges vpon egges, & sack vpon sacke?.. Such egging and whitling may happen bring you acquainted with the triumphant chariot of rotten egges. 1601Holland Pliny xiv. xxii. I. 427 When they..be throughly whitled,..then..the secrets of the heart are opened. 1652Urquhart Jewel 126 Drinking healths,..whitling themselves with Septembral juyce. 1694Motteux Rabelais v. Prognost. v. 236 Whittled, Mellow, Cupshotten Swillers.
▪ V. whittle, v.2
Also 6–7 whitle.
[f. whittle n.2]
I.
1. a. trans. To cut thin slices or shavings from the surface of (a stick, etc.); to dress or pare with a knife; to reduce or sharpen by doing this. Also with down (cf. sense 2).
1552Huloet, Whitle a thinge small, or sharpe like a shafte, inspico. 1590T. Fenne Frutes Ded., The Persians..use commonly to whittle small twigs of birch, to keepe themselves from..idle cogitations. 1614Purchas Pilgrimage iv. iv. (ed. 2) 353 Cambyses..whitling a sticke to passe away the time. 1639J. Clarke Parœm. 262 He will whittle an oke to a butcher[s] pricke. 1658Osborn Mem. King James To Rdr., A huge blame is due to such as mannage their pens no lesse impertinently then clowns do their knives and hatchets, with which..they deface and whittle the sacred graves..of great persons. 1662Atwell Faithf. Surveyor 13 You must have ten sticks about a foot long apiece, whitled and sharpned at the great end. 1724E. Ward Dancing Devils 32 As Lawyers Clerks,..Instead of minding Bonds or Leases, Sit whitt'ling useful Pens to pieces. 1842Dickens Amer. Notes xiv, The captain..seated himself astride of one of these barrels,..and pulling a great clasp-knife out of his pocket, began to ‘whittle’ it..by paring thin slices off the edges. 1913Jane E. Harrison Anc. Art & Ritual iv. 94 These wands..are whittled at the top into spiral shavings. 1972D. Bloodworth Any Number can Play xii. 103 A young orang..tried poking it [sc. a hole in a log] with a twig that was too thick, then whittled down the twig. 1979J. Harvey Plate Shop xv. 72 Ted put his feet up on the tin waste-paper box..and started absorbedly hewing and whittling a pencil down to the stub.
b. transf. To wear away or reduce by a process analogous to paring: see quots.
1736Gentl. Mag. Aug. 457/1, I am told they'll..whittle You down twenty or thirty Legs of Mutton into one sorry Dish. 1837Emerson Addr., Amer. Schol. Wks. (Bohn) II. 181 Like those Savoyards who getting their livelihood by carving shepherds [etc.]..went out one day to the mountain to find stock, and discovered that they had whittled up the last of their pine-trees. 1854A. E. Baker Northampt. Gloss. s.v., A saddle which pinches a horse's shoulder whittles the skin. 1860H. Gouger Impris. in Burmah xix. 213 The operator succeeded in whittling out [of a wen] a something which..resembled..two or three inches of a large dew-worm. 1860Sala Badd. Peer. I. xviii. 312 An American gentleman..who, having tried to dissipate the ennui of the evening by a succession of juleps, had resorted to whittling the ‘Liverpool Albion’ up into fine shreds.
c. absol. or intr.
1614[see whittling vbl. n., below]. 1825J. Neal Bro. Jonathan I. 144 A..fellow..who was whittling in the corner. 1839Marryat Diary Amer. Ser. i. II. 175 She was the first and only lady in America that I observed to whittle. 1880M. Fitzgibbon Trip to Manitoba xi. 133 He whittled away at a stick.
2. fig. To reduce or make smaller by successive abstractions; to diminish the amount, force, or importance of; to ‘cut down’; to take away by degrees, so as to reduce to nothing.
1746Walpole Lett. to Mann (1834) II. 169 We have whittled down our loss extremely. 1780M. Madan tr. Thelyphthora I. 126 Not..whittling away the strong, noble, manly sense of scripture, into the ridiculous whims and fancies of visionaries. 1862Major Jack Downing (1867) 74 You estemated the receipts from land sales, in July, at $3,000,000. You cut it down in December to $2,300,000; and now Congress, by passing the Homestead bill, will whittle it all off. 1884Times (weekly ed.) 17 Oct. 4/1 If Parliament is whittled down so that nothing remains of it but the House of Commons. 1888M. Burrows Cinque Ports vii. 171 The Ports were annually reminded of the extent to which their ancient supremacy had been whittled away.
3. To make or shape by whittling; to carve. Also fig.
1848Lowell Let. to S. H. Gay 5 May, I have contrived to whittle out something..for you in time for the mail. 1865Lond. Rev. 30 Dec. 686/1 Robinson Crusoe whittled a diary upon a stick. 1895E. S. Phelps Chapters from Life i. 14 She is whittling little wooden feet to stretch the children's stockings on.
II.
4. intr. To worry or fret. Occas. trans. dial.
1880N. & Q. 6 Mar. 205/2 When I was a boy my mother daily used this word to express fidgetiness or uneasiness. ‘What are you whittling about?’ seems to ring in my ears at this moment. 1913D. H. Lawrence Sons & Lovers viii. 202 ‘How do you think I'm going to manage?’ ‘Well, it won't make it any better to whittle about it.’ 1984Daily Tel. 23 Oct. 10/3 ‘I'm whittled to death about the future of the mining industry.’ These, or words like these, are attributed to Mr. Michael Eaton, the new character in the long-runnning serial story of the mining dispute.
Hence whittled |-(ə)ld| ppl. a.; also whittled-down; ˈwhittling vbl. n., (a) the action of the verb (also attrib.); (b) concr. (in pl.) fragments cut off in whittling, shavings; also fig.; ˈwhittling ppl. a., that whittles, addicted to whittling. Also ˈwhittler, one who whittles, or is addicted to whittling as an idle trick.
1792G. Cartwright Jrnl. Labrador III. p. x, *Whittled-sticks, sticks from which beavers have eaten the bark. 1884Gilmour Mongols 244 The bow..was a bent and whittled branch of some shrub.
1961A. Brownjohn in E. Lucie-Smith Brit. Poetry since 1945 (1970) 266 Farmers call hillocks And ponds..By the first words to hand; a heavy, *whittled-down Simplicity meets the need. 1962E. Snow Other Side of River (1963) xxiv. 183 If any of these somewhat blind guesses are right, the whittled-down results still remain impressive. 1980M. Booth Bad Track ii. 34 Long streets with a whittled-down green, a church..a pub.
1839Marryat Diary Amer. Ser. i. I. 236 In some courts they put sticks before noted *whittlers to save the furniture. 1907Elem. School Teacher Mar. 393 No one thinks of denying him the pocket-knife because of the fear that its use will result in his becoming a mere whittler.
1614Purchas Pilgrimage iv. v. (ed. 2) 364 He spent the time in *whitling with a knife. 1839Marryat Diary Amer. Ser. i. II. 4 Each knife having two pen-blades, one whittling blade. 1854C. Greatrex (title) Whittlings from the West. 1875Howells Foregone Conclus. iii. 61 Litter of shavings and whittlings strewed the floor. 1885Proctor Whist Pref. 10 The Whist Whittlings include Whist stories, maxims, notes.
1849Lever Con Cregan xx, I am no lazy,..*whittling, tobacco-chewing Texan!
▪ VI. whittle, v.3
(slang), var. whiddle, to ‘peach’.
1727Swift Clever Tom Clinch 16 Tom..said, I must speak to the People a little, But I'll see you all damn'd before I will whittle. 1874Slang Dict., Whittle, to nose or peach. |