Meaning

1 senses

  1. To reduce gradually by removing pieces.

More definitions
  • cut away in small pieces

Examples

1 sentences

  1. The new president wants to whittle down spending on health care to a bare minimum.

    darinmex · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · C2Open on TatoebaReport a problem

Forms

whittles down, whittling down, whittled down, whittled down
Base formwhittle down · to whittle down
3rd person singularwhittles down
Present participlewhittling down
Past simplewhittled down
Past participlewhittled down

irregular

Present simpleLesson

I, you, we, theywhittle down
he, she, itwhittles down

Past simpleLesson

all personswhittled down

Present perfectLesson

I, you, we, theyhave whittled down
he, she, ithas whittled down

Future simple (will)Lesson

all personswill whittle down

Phrasal verbs

2 phrasal verbs

Synonyms

2 synonyms
Close in meaning

Lessons for this word

3 lessons

See also

neighbours in the dictionary
whitherwhittlewhizwhoA1
whittle down — meaning, examples, forms, synonyms | Krumeto