whittle away

1. To drain away; to wear down or be slowly worn down.

   what little remained of his self-confidence was slowly whittling away

1. Lack of sleep whittled away her energy.

   ruНедостаток сна изничтожил её энергию. — shanghainese

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2. With each passing day, his will to live whittled away.

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3. I picked up the knife and started whittling away at the block of wood.

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4. I'm struggling to whittle away pieces of my essay to make it conform to the maximum word count.

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5. I began to whittle away my savings on gifts for a lovely ample Muslim woman.

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irregular

• whittle downTo reduce gradually by removing pieces.
• whittle awayTo drain away; to wear down or be slowly worn down.