Adjacent Words

Whittle definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

WHITTLE, n.
1. A small pocket knife. [In this sense, I believe the word is not used in America.]
2. A white dress for a woman; a double blanket worn by west countrywomen in England, over the shoulders, like a cloke. [Not used in the United States.]
WHITTLE, v.t.
1. To pare or cut off the surface of a thing with a small knife. Some persons have a habit of whittling, and are rarely seen without a penknife in their hands for that purpose. [This is, I believe, the only use of this word in New England.]
2. To edge; to sharpen. [Not in use.]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

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]

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Middle English whittel, alteration of thwitel, from thwiten to whittle, from Old English thw?tan; 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 Reference Dictionary

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. Etymology: var. of ME thwitel long knife f. OE thwitan to cut off

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

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 1913 Dictionary

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 1913 Dictionary

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 1913 Dictionary

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.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(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

Moby Thesaurus

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