英语词汇“whittle”的英英意思、用法、释义、翻译、读音、例句、短语、词组-英语词典

WORD ORIGINwhittle

Origin:

1500-1600 whittle ‘large knife’ (15-19 centuries), from thwittle (14-19 centuries), from thwite ‘to whittle’ (11-19 centuries), from Old English thwitan

VERB TABLE

whittle

Simple Form
Present	I, you, we, they	whittle
	he, she, it	whittles
Past	I, you, he, she, it, we, they	whittled
Present perfect	I, you, we, they	have whittled
	he, she, it	has whittled
Past perfect	I, you, he, she, it, we, they	had whittled
Future	I, you, he, she, it, we, they	will whittle
Future perfect	I, you, he, she, it, we, they	will have whittled

Continuous Form
Present	I	am whittling
	he, she, it	is whittling
	you, we, they	are whittling
Past	I, he, she, it	was whittling
	you, we, they	were whittling
Present perfect	I, you, we, they	have been whittling
	he, she, it	has been whittling
Past perfect	I, you, he, she, it, we, they	had been whittling
Future	I, you, he, she, it, we, they	will be whittling
Future perfect	I, you, he, she, it, we, they	will have been whittling

EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES

He took out his penknife and began whittling a piece of wood.
The list of candidates has been whittled down from 61 to 12.

EXAMPLES FROM THE CORPUS

Many of the recent suggestions for change have sought to whittle down that authority.
Red and Roy whittle the lead back down to nine.
That whittled the field down from the white pages of the Paris phone book.
The village was, as she had thought, a dump, where time was whittled away in some vintage manner.
This is good because it allows you to whittle down those superior numbers.
Visitors can even whittle away time at the airport's 143 shops and 23 eateries while awaiting flights.

Longman Language Activatorto make a shape by cutting► cut

: cut something into a square/circle etc · First cut the paper into a triangle.cut out something/cut something out · Stella stood at the kitchen table, cutting out the pattern for a new dress.· The children drew Christmas trees on their pieces of paper and cut them out carefully.

► carve

to cut shapes out of solid wood or stone: · Michelangelo carved this figure from a single block of marble.

► whittle

to cut a piece of wood into a particular shape by cutting off small pieces with a small knife : · He took out his penknife and began whittling a piece of wood.

to reduce something gradually► erode

to gradually reduce the amount or value of something, especially money, wages, or profits over a period of time: · Over the years, the value of our savings and investments has been eroded by inflation.gradually/steadily erode: · High interest rates can gradually erode profit margins.

► eat into

if costs, rising prices, etc eat into the amount of money you have, they reduce its value: · Rising rents and travel expenses simply eat into any pay rise that nurses might get.· Theft from offices and factories eats into company profits.

► deplete

to reduce the amount of something to a level that is too low: · Over the last few years, rainforests have been steadily depleted.· He knew that the area's rich plant life had been severely depleted by the huge herds of cows grazing the land.· CFC is just one chemical that depletes the ozone layer.

► chip away at

to gradually reduce the strength of something by repeated small amounts: · High interest rates can chip away at your profits.· The group continues to campaign for the rights of disabled people, chipping away at old prejudices.

► whittle away

to reduce something by small amounts over a period of time, so that the final effect is very serious: whittle away at: · Congress is whittling away at our civil liberties.whittle away something: · Inflation has been whittling away the value of state pensions for the last fifteen years.whittle something away: · Lawmakers have gradually whittled the program's funding away over the last few years.

WORD SETS► Crafts

basketry, nounbatik, nouncabinet-maker, nouncarpenter, nouncarpentry, nouncooper, nouncraft, nouncraft, verbcraftsmanship, nouncraftswoman, nounlathe, nounloom, nounpokerwork, nounraffia, nounsaddler, nounsaddlery, nounstain, verbstain, nountie-dye, verbturner, nounvarnish, verbveneer, nounveneered, adjectiveweave, verbweave, nounweaver, nounwhittle, verbwoodcarving, nounwoodwork, noun

COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADVERB► away

· The village was, as she had thought, a dump, where time was whittled away in some vintage manner.· They are behind federal agencies in other parts of the country and overseas in whittling away at piles of backlogged work.· While waiting he brought out a penknife and began whittling away a table-top.· One Sunday he was whittling away when he was reminded by a page that it was the Sabbath.· Visitors can even whittle away time at the airport's 143 shops and 23 eateries while awaiting flights.· And scurvy all the while whittled away at the crew, killing six to ten men every day.· Ever since Donald had taken over the management of the company, Robert's role had been gradually whittled away.· Under government ownership, the grazing land was gradually whittled away by privately owned farms.

► down

· The planned 75 % reduction in the permitted catch of hake was whittled down to 41 %.· This was whittled down to three for this event, including me.· This is good because it allows you to whittle down those superior numbers.· This war is a bid by the Tigrayan nationalists to whittle down their northern neighbour.· That figure was whittled down, but was still much higher than the Government was prepared to bankroll.· You can rely on these keen-eyed bowmen to whittle down the enemy's numbers as they advance.