whittle away

verb

whittled away; whittling away; whittles away
: to reduce or get rid of (something) slowly
I'm still trying to whittle away a few more pounds.

Examples of whittle away in a Sentence

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Last weekend in Highland, Michigan, Rogers dismissed El-Sayed's attempts to whittle away at his GOP base of support. — Aaron Navarro, CBS News, 16 Oct. 2026 But a stumble to open September whittles away a team’s margin for error. — Andrew Greif, NBC news, 19 Sep. 2026 Thus, as that outer layer is whittled away, there is less and less material to be stripped away in subsequent episodes. — Robert Lea, Space.com, 1 Sep. 2026 Democrats are hoping to whittle away at that lead the old-fashioned way — by winning elections. — ABC News, 4 Aug. 2026 See All Example Sentences for whittle away

Rhymes for whittle away

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Browse Nearby Words

whittle
whittle away
whittle down
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Cite this Entry

“Whittle away.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/whittle%20away. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

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