| 单词 | whittle |
| 释义 | whittle (once / 3248 pages) v To whittle is to pare or carve away. Wood carvers whittle pieces of wood, removing bit by bit until what's left is a sailor with a yellow raincoat or a lone wolf howling at the moon. Whittle can also mean to reduce an amount or number of items. In this sense, it is commonly paired with the words away or down. A courtroom attorney might "whittle away" at a defendant's alibi until the truth emerges. You might "whittle down" a to-do list or "whittle away" at your student loan debt every month. But only a highly skilled wood carver can whittle a chunk of pine into that old salty dog with a yellow raincoat. WORD FAMILYwhittle: whittled, whittler, whittles, whittling+/whittler: whittlers USAGE EXAMPLESBut eventually we eliminated the contenders whom we considered to be unqualified or disagreeable, whittling our choices down until only two major candidates were left. Washington Post(Dec 29, 2016) It explores how environments whittle away at the soul and morals of the underserved. Washington Post(Jan 01, 2017) The Huskies trailed by as many as 27 in the second half but whittled away at the deficit. Washington Times(Jan 01, 2017) v cut small bits or pare shavings from whittle a piece of wood Syn|Hyper pare cut separate with or as if with an instrument Whittle (once / 38005 pages) n WORD FAMILY Whittle: Whittles USAGE EXAMPLES“It’s probably annoying to anyone we will ever date because we’re literally like this,” Mr. Jonas said, pressing his shoulder against Mr. Whittle’s. New York Times(Dec 01, 2016) Culture spokesman and London Assembly member Peter Whittle called for "some form of collective responsibility" from the party. BBC(Nov 01, 2016) Conservative MSP Brian Whittle said it was important to hold a "proper inquiry" to ensure similar incidents can not happen again. BBC(Oct 04, 2016) n English aeronautical engineer who invented the jet aircraft engine (1907-1996) Syn|Exp Frank Whittle, Sir Frank Whittle aeronautical engineer an engineer concerned with the design and construction of aircraft |
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