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

whittlewhittle /ˈwɪt̮l/ verb [intransitive, transitive]

ETYMOLOGYwhittle

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

1 (also whittle down) to gradually make something smaller by taking parts away: whittle something (down) to something The list has been whittled down to just five candidates.2to cut a piece of wood into a particular shape by cutting off small pieces with a small knifewhittle something ↔ away (also whittle away at something) phrasal verb to gradually reduce the amount or value of something, especially something that you think should not be reduced