WHITTLE DEFINITIONS - 13 definitions found
Whittle n 1: English aeronautical engineer who invented the jet aircraft engine (1907-1996) [syn: Whittle, Frank Whittle, Sir Frank Whittle}] v 1: cut small bits or pare shavings from; "whittle a piece of wood" [syn: whittle, pare] whittle thwitel Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 11th Edition (2003) whittle I. noun Etymology: Middle English whittel, alteration of thwitel, from thwiten to whittle, from Old English thwītan; akin to Old Norse thveita to hew Date: 15th century archaic a large knife II. verb (whittled; whittling) Date: 1552 transitive verb 1. a. to pare or cut off chips from the surface of (wood) with a knife b. to shape or form by so paring or cutting 2. to reduce, remove, or destroy gradually as if by cutting off bits with a knife ; pare <whittle down expenses> intransitive verb 1. to cut or shape something (as wood) by or as if by paring it with a knife 2. to wear oneself or another out with fretting • whittler noun Oxford English Reference Dictionary
Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner\'s English Dictionary whittle (whittles, whittling, whittled) If you whittle something from a piece of wood, you carve it by cutting pieces off the wood with a knife. He whittled a new handle for his ax... VERB: V n English Explanatory Dictionary whittle ˈwɪtl v. 1 tr. & (foll. by at) intr. pare (wood etc.) with repeated slicing with a knife. 2 tr. (often foll. by away, down) reduce by repeated subtractions. [var. of ME thwitel long knife f. OE thwitan to cut off] Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) Whittle \Whit"tle\, n. [AS. hw[=i]tel, from hwit white; akin to Icel. hv[=i]till a white bed cover. See White.] (a) A grayish, coarse double blanket worn by countrywomen, in the west of England, over the shoulders, like a cloak or shawl. --C. Kingsley. (b) Same as Whittle shawl, below. Whittle shawl, a kind of fine woolen shawl, originally and especially a white one. Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) Whittle \Whit"tle\, n. [OE. thwitel, fr. AS. pw[=i]tan to cut. Cf. Thwittle, Thwaite a piece of ground.] A knife; esp., a pocket, sheath, or clasp knife. ``A butcher's whittle.'' --Dryden. ``Rude whittles.'' -- Macaulay. He wore a Sheffield whittle in his hose. --Betterton. Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) Whittle \Whit"tle\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Whittled; p. pr. & vb. n. Whittling.] 1. To pare or cut off the surface of with a small knife; to cut or shape, as a piece of wood held in the hand, with a clasp knife or pocketknife. 2. To edge; to sharpen; to render eager or excited; esp., to excite with liquor; to inebriate. [Obs.] ``In vino veritas.'' When men are well whittled, their tongues run at random. --Withals. Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) Whittle \Whit"tle\, v. i. To cut or shape a piece of wood with am small knife; to cut up a piece of wood with a knife. Dexterity with a pocketknife is a part of a Nantucket education; but I am inclined to think the propensity is national. Americans must and will whittle. --Willis. English Explanatory Dictionary (Synonyms) whittle ˈwɪtl v. 1 pare (down or away), shave, trim, cut, carve, hew, shape: Remember when Grandpapa used to whittle those tiny figures of elves when we were children? 2 Usually, whittle away at or down. pare, shave, cut, trim, reduce, diminish, erode, eat away at: If he keeps whittling away at his trust fund, he might have to get a job. Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 51 Moby Thesaurus words for "whittle": amputate, ax, bisect, blade, butcher, carve, chop, cleave, cold steel, cut, cut away, cut in two, cut off, cutlery, cutter, dagger, dichotomize, dissever, edge tools, excise, fissure, gash, hack, halve, hew, incise, jigsaw, knife, lance, naked steel, pare, pigsticker, point, prune, puncturer, rend, rive, saw, scissor, sever, sharpener, slash, slice, slit, snip, split, steel, sunder, sword, tear, toad sticker |
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